Detailed explanation of the diverse application forms of carbon fiber products

Carbon fiber, with its excellent performance of high strength, high modulus, corrosion resistance and small thermal expansion coefficient, plays an important role in many fields. In order to better meet market demand, carbon fiber manufacturers have carefully developed a variety of fiber products for different purposes to give full play to its unique advantages. Next, we will explore in depth the ten diverse applications of carbon fiber and their specific uses.

1. Application of continuous long fibers
Continuous long fibers are an important form of carbon fiber, and their length is usually several meters or even longer. This fiber plays a key role in composite materials and can significantly improve the mechanical properties of materials. By combining continuous long fibers with other materials, high-performance composite materials can be manufactured, which are widely used in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, sports equipment and other fields.

Product features:

In carbon fiber production, the common product form is bundled yarn, which is tightly woven from thousands of single filaments. These bundles can be divided into three types according to the different twisting methods: NT (untwisted), UT (untwisted) and TT or ST (twisted). In practical applications, NT carbon fiber is the most commonly used. In addition, for twisted carbon fiber, its twist direction can be divided into S-twisted yarn and Z-twisted yarn. These two types of yarns differ in structure, as shown in the figure below.

Main uses:

Carbon fiber is widely used in the field of composite materials, such as CFRP, CFRTP or C/C composite materials. These composite materials play an important role in many fields such as aircraft/aerospace equipment, sporting goods, and industrial equipment parts.

2. Staple fiber yarn
In composite materials, staple fiber yarns play an important role. They are widely used in various fields, such as the manufacture of aircraft and aerospace equipment, the reinforcement of sporting goods, and the manufacture of industrial equipment parts. These staple fiber yarns not only improve the performance of composite materials, but also provide strong support for various applications.

Short staple yarn, which is short for staple fiber yarn, is a yarn made of short carbon fiber through a textile process. For example, general-grade asphalt-based carbon fiber is usually presented in the form of staple fibers. These staple fiber yarns play a key role in a variety of fields, including the manufacture of thermal insulation materials, the research and development of anti-friction materials, and the manufacture of C/C composite parts.

3. Carbon fiber fabric
Carbon fiber fabric is a material made by further processing short fiber yarn through textile technology. This fabric not only inherits the excellent performance of short fiber yarn, but also shows its uniqueness in structure. In many applications, carbon fiber fabric has shown excellent thermal insulation, friction reduction and key role in the manufacture of C/C composite parts.

Product features:
Carbon fiber fabric is made by weaving continuous carbon fiber or short carbon fiber yarn. According to different weaving methods, carbon fiber fabric can be divided into woven fabric, knitted fabric and non-woven fabric, among which woven fabric is the main form of carbon fiber fabric at present.
Main uses:
Carbon fiber fabric has similar uses to continuous carbon fiber and is widely used in the manufacture of various composite materials such as CFRP, CFRTP or C/C composite materials. Its application areas cover aircraft manufacturing, aerospace equipment, sporting goods and industrial equipment parts.

4. Carbon fiber braided tape
Carbon fiber braided tape, as an important form of carbon fiber fabric, also has excellent performance. Its unique weaving process makes the tape have excellent tensile strength and tensile properties while maintaining the high modulus characteristics of carbon fiber. In industrial applications, carbon fiber braided tapes are often used to manufacture various high-performance parts, such as transmission belts of mechanical equipment, support structures of aerospace vehicles, etc., showing their excellent strength and stability.

Product Features:
Carbon fiber braided tape, as a kind of carbon fiber fabric, is also made by fine weaving of continuous carbon fiber or carbon fiber short yarn. Its uniqueness lies in its excellent tensile strength and tensile properties, which are all due to its exquisite weaving process. In addition, it also retains the high modulus characteristics of carbon fiber, which enables it to show excellent stability in various applications.

Main uses:
Carbon fiber braided tape plays an important role in the industrial field, especially as a resin-based reinforcement material, and performs well in the production and processing of tubular products. Its high strength and stability make it an ideal choice for manufacturing high-performance parts, such as transmission belts of mechanical equipment or support structures of aerospace vehicles.

5. Chopped carbon fiber
Chopped carbon fiber, as a common form of carbon fiber, is usually controlled in length between a few millimeters and tens of millimeters. After special treatment, this fiber not only retains the high strength and lightness of carbon fiber, but also has more convenient processing characteristics. In the manufacture of composite materials, chopped carbon fiber is often used as a reinforcing material to improve the mechanical properties and durability of the product.

Product Features:
Chopped carbon fiber, unlike carbon fiber short yarn, is made by chopping continuous carbon fiber through a specific process, and its length can be flexibly adjusted according to actual needs.

Main uses:
Chopped carbon fiber is often widely used in the reinforcement of plastics, resins, cement and other mixed materials. By mixing it into these matrices, the mechanical properties, wear resistance, conductivity and heat resistance of the product can be significantly improved. Especially in recent years, its application field has been continuously expanded, and it has become an indispensable reinforcing material in the manufacture of composite materials.
In 3D printing technology, chopped carbon fiber is widely used in the manufacture of carbon fiber composite materials as the main reinforcing fiber. In addition, grinding carbon fiber is also a key technology that can further improve the performance of carbon fiber.

Product Features:
After grinding, the originally brittle carbon fiber can be transformed into powder. This form of carbon fiber is called ground carbon fiber.
Main uses:
The application range of ground carbon fiber is similar to that of chopped carbon fiber, but unlike the latter in the field of cement reinforcement, it is more used in the mixture of plastics, resins and rubbers to improve the mechanical properties, wear resistance, conductivity and heat resistance of the matrix.

6. Carbon fiber felt

Product features:
Carbon fiber felt or mat is carefully prepared by mechanical combing to layer the short fibers and then needle punching. It is also called carbon fiber non-woven fabric and is an important type of carbon fiber woven fabric.

Main uses:
Thermal insulation material is one of the main application areas of carbon fiber felt. It is also the substrate of molded insulation material, as well as an important substrate of heat-resistant protective layer and corrosion-resistant layer.

7. Carbon fiber paper
Product features:
Carbon fiber paper, a paper material made of carbon fiber as raw material, has the characteristics of light weight, high strength and heat resistance. Its unique preparation process combines the excellent performance of carbon fiber with the light and thin characteristics of paper.

Main uses:
Carbon fiber paper has a wide range of applications in aerospace, automobile manufacturing and other fields. Its high strength and heat resistance make it an ideal choice for manufacturing lightweight, high-performance products. At the same time, its unique preparation process also makes it show potential application value in the fields of electronics, biomedicine, etc.

Product Features:
Carbon fiber paper, with carbon fiber as the main raw material, is carefully prepared by dry or wet papermaking process.

Main Uses:
Carbon fiber paper has a wide range of applications in many fields. It can be made into electronic product components such as antistatic plates, electrodes, speaker cones and heating plates. In recent years, with the rise of new energy vehicles, the application of carbon fiber paper as a positive electrode material for batteries has also attracted much attention.

8. Carbon fiber prepreg
Carbon fiber prepreg, as an important application of carbon fiber paper, is a semi-finished product formed by mixing carbon fiber with resin and undergoing a specific process. This prepreg is widely used in aerospace, automobile manufacturing, wind power equipment and other fields, providing an important solution for the material needs in these fields.

Product Features:
Carbon fiber prepreg, a semi-hardened intermediate material made of carbon fiber impregnated with thermosetting resin, not only has excellent mechanical properties, but also has a wide range of applications. Its width can be customized according to the size of the processing equipment. For example, Zhang Yonggang's team at Ningbo Institute of Materials successfully processed 300mm and 600mm wide prepregs using domestically produced M55J grade carbon fiber as raw material.

Main application areas:

Aircraft/aerospace equipment, sporting goods, and industrial equipment, etc., these fields have an urgent need for lightweight and high performance.

90. Carbon fiber composites
Carbon fiber composites have been widely used in many fields such as aircraft/aerospace equipment, sporting goods, and industrial equipment due to their excellent physical properties and lightweight characteristics.

Product features:
Carbon fiber composites are made by injection molding and contain a mixture of thermoplastics or thermosetting resins and carbon fibers. Various additives and chopped fibers are also added to this mixture to enhance its performance. The material not only has excellent conductivity, but also has high stiffness and lightweight characteristics.

Main uses:
With these excellent properties of carbon fiber composites, it is widely used in the manufacture of products such as housings for office automation equipment.