Carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) is the advanced innovation of the20th century, says PradeepKulshrestha.

The end of the Metal Age is here.The age of carbon fibre reinforced composites has just begun. Wherever a massneeds to be accelerated or slowed down, lightweight design is urgently neededto achieve high energy efficiency. In case of an accident, CFRP absorbs abouteight times more energy than steel or aluminum do. This becomes especiallyobvious in the aviation industry. If an airplane is lightened by a kilogram,its fuel consumption is reduced by approximately 3,000 kg over its lifetime.

Carbon Fibre Specifications

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic isa material that will create demand in future for aviation Industry, theautomobile industry, the wind energy sector as well as the shipbuildingindustry. Carbon weaving produces the fabric in Uni Directional Carbon fabric(UD) or Bi Directional Carbon Fabric (BD), according to end use. Fabric can bewoven in different weaves like plain, twill or satin.

Carbon fibre reinforced plastic isextremely light weight, stable and immune to wear and tear.

Carbon fibre fabric construction particulars:

Pic 01: Spools of Carbon Fibre

A standard amount of carbon fibre in thousands bundled in roving form is wound on spools.

1 K Carbon Fibre - 1000 filaments

3 K Carbon Fibre - 3000 filaments

6 K Carbon Fibre - 6000 filaments

12 K Carbon Fibre - 12000 filaments

24 K Carbon Fibre - 24000 filaments

50 K Carbon Fibre - 50000 filaments

We conducted research in Nirma University, Ahmedabad in the Civil Department to repair damages on extremities of beams.

Carbonfabric (24 K UD Carbon) for repairing building beams:

Cutting carbon fabric (CF) for axial beams in construction

Application on final layer applying resin

Layering of carbon fibre for flexural beams

In this way for multi-storied old buildings, the damaged beams can be repaired without removing basic infrastructure.

Carbon Hybrid Fabrics

Cost effective and composite applications

Carbon fibre fabric can be woven with aramid glass for composite application, for aerospace fabric and carbon rings, carbon rods for artificial limbs, wind energy, sports goods, marine, automotive and infrastructures.

Carbon product variants and applications:

Conclusion:

Properties of CFRP have brought high safety to motorsports and have also made vehicles more powerful. Moreover, vehicles with less weight consume less fuel, which is a benefit for everyone's budget as well as for the environment.

The lightweight potential of CFRP can be used for many apllications. CFRP leads to making very light and therefore energy-efficient aircrafts, vehicles and ships as well as larger rotor blades for more powerful wind turbines. CFRP can lead to the making of longer bridges, higher buildings or sel-supporting roofs with wider spans.

Although these are some of the common uses of carbon fibre, many new applications are seen almost daily. The growth of carbon fibre is fast, and in just five years, this list will be much longer.

Reference:

1. Fibre2fashion.com

2. Iimts.edu.in

3. Mueller-frick.com

4. Itmaasia.com

5. Teijin.com

6. Research Work at Nirma University, Ahmedabad

About the author:

Pradeep Kulshrestha is DGM - weaving, Chiripal Group. He has three decades of experience in textiles and research projects in technical textiles and composite applications.