Horacio understood the high potential of composite-material-based systems and, in particular, carbon fiber while making the Countach Evoluzione at Lamborghini. He tried to persuade Lamborghini to buy an autoclave so they could extend the production of the carbon parts. They refused, saying that Ferrari did not have an autoclave, so Lamborghini didn’t need one.

He then borrowed capital to buy his own autoclave late in 1987 and then, in 1991, he broke away from the company and founded his own consultancy called Modena Design which started to make carbon fiber composites for Formula One cars and clients like Daimler and Ferrari. A couple of years later, he founded Pagani Automobili.

The result couldn’t be any different: The pulsating heart of Pagani craftsmanship is enshrined within one of its signature features and is the first thing that strikes you when you see a Zonda or a Huayra: the carbon fiber front hood with its herringbone weave pattern, a symbol not only of technical research but also a quest for aesthetics!

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original 1953 Corvette was the first »mass-produced» automobile to use fiberglass-reinforced plastic parts. Every Corvette since has featured a composite-material body.

Fiberglass was first considered for use on a GM vehicle by legendary designer Harley Earl. Besides being an exotic choice for the early Fifties and having an undeniable weight advantage, fiberglass offered an economical way to create the low-volume Corvette without the expense of large sheet metal stamping dies.

Starting with the third generation in 1968, the body parts were manufactured with a press mold process. It was a significant advancement in forming technology and laid the groundwork for a change in the body panels’ material in 1973. That year, the composition changed from conventional fiberglass to sheet-molded composite, or SMC, which was composed of fiberglass, resin, and a catalyst formed under high heat and pressure. The new material helped produce panels that were smoother right out of the mold, resulting in higher-quality paint finishes.

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»Since Apollo, advanced composites have evolved by leaps and bounds, and have played a significant role in space programs with use in launch vehicles, the space shuttle, satellites, space telescopes, and the International Space Station.»

Awesome article by CompositesWorld! A thoroughly recommended read!

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After that, each generation of new aircraft built by Boeing had an increased percentage of composite material usage. Today, for most commercial aircraft applications, carbon fiber-based composites are now the leading materials on the market.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner was the first major commercial airplane to have a composite fuselage, composite wings, and use composites in most other airframe components. This aircraft is 80% composite by volume! By weight, the material contents are 50% composite, 20% aluminum, 15% titanium, 10% steel, and 5% other.

Each Boeing 787 aircraft contains approximately 32,000 kg of CFRP composites, made with 23 tons of carbon fiber! Composites are used on the fuselage, wings, tail, doors, and interior.

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During the development stage, the company faced several problems with the torsional stiffness of the aluminum honeycomb chassis. The prototype chassis was losing a fifth of its torsional stiffness after 30,000 kilometers of testing, and the test drivers were noticing poor vehicle handling. To solve this problem, Bugatti invested in a new carbon fiber chassis that was developed and supplied by Aerospatiale, giving the car the stiffness it needed to achieve its performance targets. History was made when the EB 110 became the first production car to have a carbon fiber monocoque.

Another version of the EB 110 was also released. Named »Super Sport», this variant was lighter than the original by 150 kg. This was achieved by the use of carbon fiber body panels on the exterior and in the interior.

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But why were they chosen? The answer is pretty straightforward and has nothing to do with high strength! At the time, Edison noticed that their high heat tolerance made them ideal electrical conductors. However, soon later tungsten took over as the light bulb filament of choice in the early 1900s, and carbon fiber became obsolete for the next 50 years or so.

During the 1960s, a Japanese researcher named Akio Shindo, manage to manufacture carbon fibers using PAN as a precursor. This way, his team was able to achieve a filament that had ~55% carbon, using a much more cost-effective production method. This new technology allowed for the resurgence of carbon fibers, but this time, they were here to stay!

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Epoxy is the cured end product of epoxy resins, as well as a colloquial name for the epoxide functional group. Epoxy resins, also known as polyepoxides are a class of reactive prepolymers and polymers that contain epoxide groups. They may be reacted (cross-linked) either with themselves or with a wide range of co-reactants (hardeners). The cross-linking reaction is commonly referred to as curing.

The first commercial attempts to prepare resins from epichlorohydrin were made in 1927 in the United States. Credit for the first synthesis of bisphenol-A-based epoxy resins is shared by Dr. Pierre Castan of Switzerland and Dr. S.O. Greenlee of the United States in 1936.

The most common epoxy resins are based on reacting epichlorohydrin (ECH) with bisphenol A, resulting in a different chemical substance known as bisphenol A diglycidyl ether. Bisphenol A-based resins are the most widely commercialized resins!

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In 1968, chemist Dr. Albert Pennings managed to pull some wispy threads from the stirring rods in his beaker. He found it impossible to pull the strands apart. Excited, he rushed to tell his boss’s, which responded: “Fiber? If I wanted a fiber I would pick up the phone and order some! Stop with this nonsense!”.

It was the discovery of the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) fiber, later branded as Dyneema!

This outburst set the tone for a decades-long ride to bring Dyneema to the market. The journey would involve multiple co-inventors, dismissive managers, happy accidents, quantum technological leaps, commercial innovations, and a few experiments that under current regulations would be considered safety violations. Fast-forward to 2021, Dyneema is a market leader in offering solutions for high-performance ropes, body armor, safety gloves, and medical applications.

The use of Dyneema has produced many iconic images: upturning the stranded cruise ship Costa Concordia in Italy and placing the crown on the Freedom Tower in NYC!

Amazing to see how fiber technology has evolved during the last decades, isn’t it?

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As with any sport, the competition to be the best leads to innovation everywhere possible, and as all composite lovers already know, carbon fiber can always help with that!

The first all carbon fiber commercially available production scale bicycle was the iconic Kestrel 4000, which was released in 1986. Before that, the utilization of carbon fibers by the cycling industry was limited to CFRP tubes glued to aluminum lugs.

1989 saw the start of the carbon fiber revolution in the Tour de France. Metal bikes continued to feature in the tour for a further decade but with dwindling success. The last Tour won on a steel bike took place in 1994, and the last non carbon fiber bike (this time made of aluminum), won the competition in 1998.

Carbon fiber composites allowed for further weight advantages and more aerodynamically shapes that weren’t possible with metals!

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Fortuitously, the company Owens-Corning had a plant in Toledo! So, when the first batch of new fiberglass was made available, Greene was allowed to buy half, making boat models with urea-formaldehyde resin and then curing them in a 0.9 m autoclave.  

Greene was also lucky to receive 3.8 liters of an early batch of polyester resin from American Cyanamid’s Griffith. He probably used it to wet out the fiberglass for the 2.4m »Tubby Dink», which he’d previously been building in wood. As best researchers can tell, this was the world’s first polyester-fiberglass boat. The year was 1942.  

In this picture, you can see a 1959 flier created by Greene’s Company to advertise their boats!  

Want to read more about the boatbuilding sector transition from wood to fiberglass? Check out this awesome article: https://lnkd.in/ebDPXVN

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