Have You Ever Wondered the Actual Weight Savings of Carbon Fiber Parts?

"Danny Korecki" (dannykorecki) 02/20/2020 at 17:30 • Filed to: None

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Nom De Plume > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 17:37

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It varies widely and even more so across race or street legal parts. Carbon wrapped aluminum is also still in wide use.

Hoods are the big one where carbon loses out to composite metals. Leading edge parts are another facet to consider. Especially if you add vinyl to protect them instead of just treating them as increasingly ugly expendables awaiting the killing blow.

MonkeePuzzle > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 17:42

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ahh, but what are the weight savings of carbon overlay that just covers the stock piece? :D

HammerheadFistpunch > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 17:42

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Carbon parts that don’t benefit from a strength advantage are very very rarely going to be worth it. carbon structural component ? Sure. C arbon cosmetic part or paneling? boo.

farscythe - makin da cawfee! > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 17:42

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hey man....every gram helps....when you are really really racing... but yeah... for most people its just a pretty gimmick

that said i do love the boy racers here.. fancy carbon hood paired with a bazzillion watt stereo *double thumbs up*

(admittedly... the majority use carbon wraps...wich is smarter if your just going for the look anyway)

Danny Korecki > MonkeePuzzle 02/20/2020 at 17:43

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There are none? lol

This piece replaced the red one if that wasn’t made clear.

Danny Korecki > HammerheadFistpunch 02/20/2020 at 17:44

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They darn sure look cool though. 

Danny Korecki > farscythe - makin da cawfee! 02/20/2020 at 17:44

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Every gram helps with weight and with Instagram right? lol

Danny Korecki > Nom De Plume 02/20/2020 at 17:46

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Carbon wrapped aluminum? Do you mean like an aluminum piece with a carbon fiber sticker wrap?

Or do you mean someone puts a carbon fiber mold over aluminium?

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 17:50

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It’s like two layers of carbon fiber glued onto the aluminum. I had some ski poles like that and they were junk. 

Danny Korecki > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 02/20/2020 at 17:56

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Well that’s silly, in that case the carbon fiber adds weight.

punkgoose17 > Nom De Plume 02/20/2020 at 18:06

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I would think a hood would be a better use of carbon fiber just because it is such a big piece of metal.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 18:19

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Yes, better to be 100% carbon or 100% aluminum. Those poles did break after two seasons. I was not sad to see them go. I’ve had 100% CF poles since and had zero issues. 

Danny Korecki > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 02/20/2020 at 18:21

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That is so weird , thanks for enlightening me to a whole other oddity with carbon fiber.

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 18:22

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It’s a common gimmick with high end sporting equipment. I’m not to well versed on car components but I would assume very similar results.

Nom De Plume > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 18:33

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The second one.

notsomethingstructural > Highlander-Datsuns are Forever 02/20/2020 at 18:34

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I’m guessing you’re thinking of bonded carbon-aluminum honeycomb sandwich panels which are considerably more rigid than plain CF and much lighter and stronger than solid aluminum. There might be structural reasons to use a wrap of CF over a lighter aluminum part (think of how rebar is used to reinforce concrete) but that feels very application-specific and would only make sense for tubes or parts that are only subjected to forces in one direction. In cases like that, the aluminum would need to be a thinner sidewall extrusion vs an unwrapped part for this to make any sense, and even then, it still may not.

Source: I am a structural engineer.  

Danny Korecki > Nom De Plume 02/20/2020 at 20:07

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Still would add weight over the aluminium that is already lower weight.

SmugAardvark > Danny Korecki 02/20/2020 at 22:17

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When factoring weight, it helps immensely to distinguish between “dry” carbon fiber and “wet” carbon fiber. The layers of resin add a good amount of weight to the overall wet product. Depending on the parts being fabricated, it can result in a weight up wards of 50-70% more than a   dry carbon counterpart .

You may have touched on this in the video, the speakers on my work computer are currently inop.

Danny Korecki > SmugAardvark 02/20/2020 at 22:21

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I have enough trouble trying to convince people what is “real” carbon and fake.

zipfuel > notsomethingstructural 02/20/2020 at 22:50

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I might suspect the reason for doing this is manufacturing . You need a mandrel to wrap the carbon around and if the part is hollow but sealed you can’t get it out afterwards. The aluminum probably works well by being stiff and conducting heat while baking.

I have seen this on a snapped composite hockey stick and there the metal was wafer thin.