Carbon Fiber Vs. Fiberglass Tubing In Performance

Glass Fiber (Glass Fiber) melts glass materials (quartz sand, alumina and chlorite, limestone, dolomite, boric acid, soda ash, manganese, fluorite, etc.) at a high temperature, and then draws, winds, and weaves them into a glass fiber cloth, which is then shaped into the final appearance according to the design of the product. The diameter of a single fiber is usually a few microns to more than 20 microns. Fiberglass has excellent insulation, heat and corrosion resistance, and is less expensive.

Carbon Fiber (Carbon Fiber) made of graphite compression woven into the carbonized fiber, carbon content is usually more than 90%, the same after drawing, yarn weaving and other processes, and ultimately the use of molds will be wrapped in layers of carbon fiber cloth for the finished product appearance, and epoxy resin for curing. Compared to glass fiber, carbon fiber materials typically have higher performance. Compared to glass fiber, carbon fiber has more than three times the Young's modulus (a physical measure of a solid material's ability to resist deformation), and has greater corrosion resistance and lighter weight. The strength of high-quality carbon fiber is even higher than that of steel and aluminum alloy. Its excellent characteristics of high strength, high stability and low weight have made carbon fiber synonymous with high-performance materials in aerospace, military and sports products.

Carbon fiber tubing and fiberglass tubing are two forms of composite tubing applications. Carbon fiber tubing is manufactured using carbon fiber prepreg winding, pultrusion, or coiling processes, while fiberglass tubing is made by traction pultrusion of glass fibers and resin. These two materials pipe in aerospace, automotive manufacturing, sports and other industries are widely used, what are the differences in their performance?

The density of carbon fiber tube is 1.6g/cm³, less than 1/2 of aluminum alloy, the tensile strength of steel pipe is 300~600MPa, the tensile strength of aluminum alloy pipe is 110~136MPa, and the tensile strength of carbon fiber tube is about 1500MPa, the tensile strength advantage is obvious. The coefficient of thermal expansion of carbon fiber composite material is -1.4x10^-6, which can ensure the stability of the product size is not easy to deform, the fatigue strength limit of carbon fiber tube is 70%~80% of its tensile strength, in the long term alternating load conditions, the carbon fiber tube is more stable, longer service life. And carbon fiber material conductivity is good, electromagnetic shielding performance is excellent.

The density of glass fiber tube is 2.53~2.55g/cm³, heavier than carbon fiber tube of the same specification, tensile strength is 100~300MPa, modulus of elasticity is 7000MPa, elongation at break is 1.5~4%, Poisson's ratio is 0.22, coefficient of thermal expansion is 4.8x10^-4. The strain amount is also relatively large, when the strain is 1%~2%, the resin will be shattered, therefore, it is not allowed to carry stress more than 60% of the ultimate stress, while the carbon fiber tube has large elastic modulus, which can maintain good mechanical properties under the condition of ultimate stress. Glass fiber tube in the allowable bearing stress does not exceed 60% of the ultimate stress, and carbon fiber tube modulus of elasticity is large, can be in the ultimate stress conditions to maintain good mechanical properties.

4 points of difference between glass fiber and carbon fiber:

1,Rigidity

Rigidity refers to the ability of a material or structure to resist elastic deformation when subjected to force, carbon fiber material is better in this performance, glass fiber is slightly inferior. Fiberglass is suitable for use in the rigidity requirements of the place, such as helmets and so on.

2, The strength

Carbon fiber in the tensile strength of the advantages of some of the larger, general-purpose carbon fiber tensile strength can reach 1000MPa, high-strength carbon fiber can even reach 3500MPa, general-purpose fiberglass tensile strength can reach 1000MPa, high-strength fiberglass is only 2800MPa or so, the upper limit of the carbon fiber is higher.

3, Durability

Durability is a wide range of terms, including multiple properties, such as high temperature resistance, low temperature resistance, acid and alkali resistance, corrosion resistance, impact resistance, etc., in these properties on the glass fiber and carbon fiber have their own advantages and disadvantages. In terms of high temperature resistance, glass fiber is deeper, acid and alkali resistance is similar, and impact resistance is slightly better with carbon fiber. Overall service life, carbon fiber longer, but in a specific use environment, can not make an exact comparison.

4, The price

Glass fiber than carbon fiber prices are low, and a lot lower. First of all, glass fiber in the domestic popularity of earlier, greater capacity, domestic carbon fiber production capacity is seriously inadequate, imports are restricted, the price is naturally higher than glass fiber. In addition, carbon fiber in the specific strength and specific modulus of the performance is better, in many high-end areas (such as aerospace) on the more important, coupled with the complexity of the production process, resulting in a higher price of carbon fiber.