Carbon Fiber Fabric

Polymers and materials are building blocks many countless things around us. Right from the keyboards of our computers to entire jet planes, we are surrounded by polymers and similar substances. Carbon fiber, is another such useful material which is also known as CG, graphite fiber or carbon graphite.

What is Carbon Fabric

As the name suggests, it is a fiber or 'cloth', which is made from what is known as carbon fibers. Carbon fiber is a made from a thin fiber or rather string of carbon atoms. The diameter of the fibers is as small as 0.005 - 0.010 mm, which in fact is even thinner than your hair. The atoms in the fiber are closely bonded in a set of microscopic crystals (hexagonal in shape), which are aligned parallel to the longer axis of the fiber, that is the alignment of crystals is always in the direction of the length of the fiber. These fibers are sinned into yarns and woven into regular fabrics.

Now, there are two ways in which this carbon fabric is used, namely as usual fabrics, or they can be integrated into plastic resin to form composite materials, which is known as carbon fiber reinforced plastic. The one which is a plastic has a high strength to weight ratio. There are three things that you need to know about carbon fiber, one - it has a very high strength, two - it is a very expensive and three - it is very light. Due to the good strength and weight features, tensile strength and low density, it is used for several purposes in military engineering, civil engineering and aerospace projects. It is also used in cars, spectacles, several electronic products, etc.

Carbon fabric, in some cases, is integrated with other types of materials such as plastics to strengthen the fabric.

Carbon Fiber Fabric Weaves

The weave of the carbon fabric influences many of its properties. The common ones include, Plain, Twill and Satin. Let's have a look:

• Plain Weave: The plain weave involves a fiber weave, over and under in each direction. This kind of weave is good for lightweight applications, and can be used with sufficient flexibility without getting damaged.
• Twill Weave: The twill weave includes an over and under weave after every two. This weave fabric can be easily used for complex and compound curves, a greater degree of flexibility without damage is offered by this kind of fiber.
• Satin: The satin one involves an over and under after every 12, that is an over and under on the 13. The satin weave looks better than the other two and to a certain degree this weave possesses more strength and flexibility.

It must be noted that even though the aforementioned weaves possesses progressive degrees of strengths, the material in the combination with which they are used matter a lot.

Now, you might wonder that how to cut carbon fabric? Well, it can be cut with simple tools like a knife or any blade which is sharp enough. The problem occurs when the carbon fabric has some integrated matter, such as, plastic or fiberglass or for that matter any fiber, within it. Then, the necessity of power tools might occur. Industrial and non industrial uses of carbon fiber sheets are quite common and well-known. However, in the recent past, car interiors and motorbike exteriors have been made and touched up with carbon fiber.