production Archives - Managing Composites https://managingcomposites.com/blog/tag/production/ Thu, 15 Sep 2022 09:46:44 +0000 es hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://managingcomposites.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/cropped-MC_ICONO_V2-32x32.jpg production Archives - Managing Composites https://managingcomposites.com/blog/tag/production/ 32 32 The first production carbon fiber bicycle https://managingcomposites.com/blog/the-first-production-carbon-fiber-bicycle/ Thu, 15 Sep 2022 09:46:41 +0000 https://managingcomposites.com/?p=257244 Today we will tell the story of the first production carbon fiber bicycle and how it has revolutionized the Tour de France! 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 […]

The post The first production carbon fiber bicycle appeared first on Managing Composites.

]]> Today we will tell the story of the first production carbon fiber bicycle and how it has revolutionized the Tour de France!

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!

Kestrel 4000

The post The first production carbon fiber bicycle appeared first on Managing Composites.

]]> How are Carbon Fibers Manufactured https://managingcomposites.com/blog/how-are-carbon-fibers-manufactured/ Tue, 16 Aug 2022 10:00:00 +0000 https://managingcomposites.com/?p=257154 Carbon fiber is made from organic polymers, which consist of long strings of molecules held together by carbon atoms. Most carbon fibers (about 90%) are made from the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) process. A small amount (about 10%) are manufactured from rayon or the petroleum pitch process.   The production process of PAN-based carbon fibers can be divided […]

The post How are Carbon Fibers Manufactured appeared first on Managing Composites.

]]> Carbon fiber is made from organic polymers, which consist of long strings of molecules held together by carbon atoms. Most carbon fibers (about 90%) are made from the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) process. A small amount (about 10%) are manufactured from rayon or the petroleum pitch process.  
 
The production process of PAN-based carbon fibers can be divided into five steps: 
 
1. Spinning and stretching the PAN copolymer to form a fiber. Stretching results in an elongation of 500 to 1300 percent, and is an essential step in obtaining high-strength fiber.  
 
2. Stabilization and oxidation in air at 200 to 300°C under tension. Heat setting or oxidation crosslinks the PAN and stabilizes the structure so that it will not melt during the carbonization process.  
 
3. Carbonization in an inert atmosphere at 980 to 1595°C. This process is conducted in a nitrogen atmosphere and converts the PAN to carbon.  
 
4. Graphitization in an inert atmosphere at 1980 to 3040°C, which produces a more crystalline structure and a higher elastic modulus. The final carbon content is greater than 99 percent!  
 
5. Surface treatment and sizing.  
 
Very interesting, right?  

The post How are Carbon Fibers Manufactured appeared first on Managing Composites.

]]> The history of fiberglass https://managingcomposites.com/blog/the-history-of-fiberglass/ Thu, 03 Feb 2022 21:25:35 +0000 https://managingcomposites.com/?p=1694 The use of fiberglass has changed along these years.

The post The history of fiberglass appeared first on Managing Composites.

]]> The use of fiberglass dates back to 1836 when Ignace Dubus-Bonnel received the world’s first patent on a method of making them. At the time, fiberglass was hard to make thin enough to be completely flexible, and no reliable method of mass production existed.

These problems would only be solved in 1932 by Dale Kleist, a graduate student who was working part-time at Owens-Illinois as a researcher. The company wanted to make glass blocks for architectural use, and its researchers were looking for a way to seal the two halves of a block together so that moisture couldn’t get inside.

He decided to try a metal-spraying gun with molten glass instead of bronze and discovered that it created a shower of ultrafine, thread-like glass fibers.

Owens-Illinois immediately recognized that this was an excellent way to make glass wool for insulation and that it might be adaptable for other applications.

Four years and the researchers were turning out individual strands long and flexible enough to be woven into cloth. The cloth was remarkably strong, and it could be cut and folded just like ordinary fabrics.

Bibliographical Reference:

The Fiberglass Story, written by Michael Lamm

The post The history of fiberglass appeared first on Managing Composites.

]]>