In the News-British Carbon Fibre & other composites?

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In the News-British Carbon Fibre & other composites?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

In the news today an industry in the UK which has been struggling for decades British Steel, and non of the sell-off buyers and partners seems to be able to make a go of it either...

Plenty of things to blame I am sure you can think of a few.

Perhaps, if the appropriate energy, resources/research had been put into carbon fibre, which is stronger lighter etc etc there might have been a more positive story like....

British Carbon Fibre opens new gigafactory in Consett/Redcar/Scunthorpe/Sheffield/Port Talbot/Motherwell etc etc

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Last edited by NewcastleFalcon on 29 Apr 2021, 14:10, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

The Welsh Car Industry at least is using Carbon Fibre, but whether the "composites" come from "British Carbon Fibre" or are shipped in from elsewhere I don't know.

"The chassis is a carbon fibre monocoque made from very lightweight but extremely stiff carbon fibre composites. The monocoque chassis weighs less than 40kg."

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by myglaren »

NewcastleFalcon wrote: 21 May 2019, 12:44 In the news today an industry in the UK which has been struggling for decades British Steel, and non of the sell-off buyers and partners seems to be able to make a go of it either...

Plenty of things to blame I am sure you can think of a few.

Perhaps, if the appropriate energy, resources/research had been put into carbon fibre, which is stronger lighter etc etc there might have been a more positive story like....

British Carbon Fibre opens new gigafactory in Consett/Redcar/Scunthorpe/Sheffield/Port Talbot/Motherwell etc etc

Regards Neil

Indeed, and with concomitant fuel savings therefore less pollution.
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In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Ever wondered why is carbon fibre so expensive?

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

This may well be the only Carbon Fibre thread (pause for hilarity) the FCF ever has, may as well fill it up with a bit of information.

So whats special about the BMW I3. Not my fuzzy photo, but it does have a carbon fibre passenger cell.

Image
Who knew there's a carbon fibre recycling firm in Dudley.
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable ... rty-secret
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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by myglaren »

NewcastleFalcon wrote: 22 May 2019, 10:08
Who knew there's a carbon fibre recycling firm in Dudley.
I transited Dudley last week, never knew it was there :)
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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

myglaren wrote: 22 May 2019, 13:03
NewcastleFalcon wrote: 22 May 2019, 10:08
Who knew there's a carbon fibre recycling firm in Dudley.
I transited Dudley last week, never knew it was there :)

http://www.elgcf.com/
Websites often give an impression of grandeur but not quite a gigafactory yet when you streetview it!
https://www.google.com/maps/@52.5488253 ... 312!8i6656

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Bit of a sarcastic title to the thread, but you often hear the stronger and lighter than steel cliche trotted out, but its very expensive etc etc. Further up the thread are links to articles about why that is so.

With the Eu and others are pondering how to decarbonise heavy industrial proceces like steel making, they seem to be thinking instead of fossil fuels we could use green hydrogen from the wind and solar bounty there to be harvested.

Perhaps the better solution is to find an alternative to steel. Carbon fibre has been around ages it seems and is clearly as a material in many cases superior to steel for many applications, but it hasnt shaken off its too expensive tag.

Flicking through Autocar "News" this morning, being really surprised that the first couple of articles were about electric vehicles....maybe the revolution is on its way.....came across this one a little further down. Quite a light treatment but interesting

Under the skin: how natural fibres are providing an alternative to carbonfibre

I also came across the other day, a firm who were making carbon fibre hydrogen storage tanks, cant remember where at the moment!

Contribute to the thread if you can.

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by CitroJim »

All of my bikes are made of carbon fibre :D

On my highest-end bike it's even used to construct the spiders used in the larger sized sprockets in the rear dérailleur cassette...

All in the name of light weight... It's wonderful stuff but potentially fragile in a crash...

For bikes at least, there are many grades and varieties of carbon fibre used depending upon how deep your pockets are...

A 'budget' sub-£1000 carbon fibre bike will have a vastly different lay-up and material quality compared to a high-end bike costing five figures...

Many think that all carbon fibre is the same but it's definitely not!
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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by myglaren »

Could reduce the CO2 in the atmosphere too. Using one of the CO2 scrubbers/recovery units that got a lot of press, never to be heard of again.
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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

The title of this thread was somewhat sarcastic, but went on to open a discussion on the never ending saga of why no one can apparently run a successful and profitable steel manufacturing industry in the UK.

Steel is of course currently in the news with the latest "saviour" of the British Steel Industry, out with the begging bowl again.

Carbon fibre has been around for ages, it has always had the "stronger than steel, lighter than steel" tag. So where are the 6 carbon fibre gigafactories to be built in the UK news, and why are we still using steel to make cars?
(er if anyone needs a suggestion here's some possible locations... Consett/Redcar/Scunthorpe/Sheffield/Port Talbot/Motherwell )


When you talk about range in electric vehicles, one of the largest factors in supressing potential range is weight. My Leaf while not exactly being bang up to date, being a case in point. A very good bit of solid engineering from our friends at Nissan, but a weighty package none the less.

Has carbon fibre promised much, but delivered little, and stubbornly not developed into mass profitable production and remains happily in its niche of a premium material at a premium price.

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by NewcastleFalcon »

Gibbo2286 wrote: 06 Apr 2021, 09:57 If only it were that easy Neil.

https://www.china-composites.net/info/c ... 6872.html
The failure to come up with an economic large scale manufacturing process, has been the achilles heel of Carbon Fibre.

Other fibres are available...and this Swiss Company continue to be very active in Flax fibre composite materials. Cheaper to produce, more eco friendly but......still paddling around in the higher echelons of automotive and other applications.
https://www.bcomp.ch/

Electric GT Holdings and SPV Racing recently unveiled the race-ready version of the EPCS V2.3 Tesla P100DL at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The car features lightweight body parts made using Bcomp’s ampliTex and powerRibs natural fibre composite reinforcement products, contributing to a 500 kg weight reduction over the road edition.

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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by bobins »

I was chatting to mate earlier today who used to work on the moulds for carbon fibre parts for high-end cars and race cars. I asked him why he thought more mass-market cars didn't use carbon fibre panels. Whilst cost is undoubtedly the main problem, there's also the issue of how the carbon fibre panels would shatter and disperse in a high speed impact. Not so much the fact that they would shatter or break, but the unpredictability of it. The actual forming of panels is relatively easy with a high degree of accuracy available - it's just it costs a lot to make the panels. Gordon Murray's new sports car is using a slightly different way of forming the carbon fibre panels (to the usual method) which might be a way forward.
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Re: In the News-British Carbon Fibre?

Post by mickthemaverick »

Another significant issue with the mass production of Carbon Fibre parts is the current lack of qualified materials engineers to actually do the work. My son-in-law's CV started as a materials apprentice for British Aerospace and since then he has worked on aircraft wings, helicopter blades, F1 aero panels from full wings to front winglets working formerly for Torro Rosso and then for Ferrari. From there he went to help build the boat for Sweden's assault on Americas Cup racing, designing and producing its composite wing/sail, and then back to Aerospace in Germany from where he currently is about to move onto build volocopters. He has consistently found a lack of engineers in all the different industries, which has of course helped him earn superb money, who were properly trained in composite material design and production. The field simply doesn't attract enough youngsters into apprenticeships to produce enough engineers for mass production needs. :(

A training loophole probably exists in many of the new technologies now being needed for the 21st Century world. :(
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