Carbon Fiber Manufacturing: Challenges and Solutions
Carbon fiber has emerged as one of the most widely used materials for engineering and manufacturing purposes and has been extensively studied in the past decade. It has been widely used for manufacturing applications including aerospace, automotive, sports, wind, and civil construction, medical fields among others. This post explores the manufacturing processes and provides an in-depth understanding of the current manufacturing technologies, current and future challenges and solutions for its applications, and how they can be improved. Manufacturing of Carbon Fiber: The production process consists of several steps such as; Step 1: Carbonization: It is derived from a mixture of pitch (derived from crude oil) and petroleum naphtha (a mixture of various hydrocarbons). It is first liquefied and then heated to a temperature of 850 degrees Celsius in a furnace. Step 2: Crystallization: This is the heart of the whole production process. The molten, highly viscous, and highly amorphous