The carbon fiber tube is made of carbon fiber composite material, so the performance of the entire carbon fiber tube is inseparable from the carbon fiber composite material. Carbon fiber composites are composed of carbon elements, and the internal structure is similar to artificial graphite. The carbon atoms are connected together in the form of graphitized hexagonal microcrystals, forming an irregular disordered graphite structure and oriented along the axial direction of the carbon fiber. This crystalline orientation arrangement makes the carbon fiber have high strength and good mechanical properties.
So how can the quality of carbon fiber pipes be guaranteed?
1. Choose the appropriate mold material
For filament winding or roll-wrapped processes, because the fiber is wound under a compressive force, its collective shape remains basically unchanged. Therefore, it is better to use metal materials with good rigidity as the core molds, such as steel and duralumin. The density and hardness of steel are higher than that of duralumin, but the thermal expansion coefficient of steel is not as good as that of duralumin. The high-performance carbon fiber tubes are cured at high temperature. If choosing the duralumin mandrel as the core mold, the density and mechanical properties of the carbon pipe can be improved through internal pressure curing generated by the thermal expansion of hard aluminum.
2. Combining temperature control with pre compaction
An important step in solving surface defects of carbon fiber pipes is to combine the pre compaction and temperature controlling during the laying process. The key operation is to pre compact each layer at a certain temperature during the laying, and apply a certain amount of pressure to compress each layer of fibers.
Pre compaction can prevent the accumulation of loose fiber layers. Under a certain pressure and temperature, excess resin, air bubbles, and low boiling substances are removed from the prepreg blank, making the blank compact and basically reaching the predetermined thickness. The pre-compacted blank will no longer absorb glue during curing. After this step, the resin content in the carbon fiber composite material and the thickness of the pipe can be effectively controlled.
3. Heat shrinking process
In addition to the above methods, the heat shrinkage process can also be used to improve the surface quality and manufacturing accuracy of carbon fiber pipes. During high-temperature curing, the heat-shrinkable material can effectively transmit the pressure of the autoclave, and evenly eliminate the influence of the wrinkles of the vacuum bag and breathable felt on the composite material. When selecting heat shrink materials, multiple dimensions such as shrinkage temperature, shrinkage rate, and temperature resistance need to be considered comprehensively.
Runfeng is a company with more than ten years of experience in the field of carbon fiber product production and processing. It has an experienced technical team, a complete carbon fiber product production line, and strictly controls on every step of the production process. Pls contact us if you have a demand for carbon fiber products.