Air tube with carbon fiber
Hi guys,
Is it possible to use carbon fiber in the manufacturing of air tube and what are the best types of carbon fibers used ?
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We have obtained 33 msi Carbon Fiber This type has a high carrying capacity
I’ve calculated safety factor and the result was excellent about 400 bar.
Size=O.D=1.5″,Wall=0.1″
length=20″
Sounds like you didn’t need to ask the original question. 😎
Are you using a pre-preg material, or wet layup?
Thanks RiffRaff
We have obtained 33 msi Carbon Fiber This type has a high carrying capacity
I’ve calculated safety factor and the result was excellent about 400 bar.
Size=O.D=1.5″,Wall=0.1″
length=20″
I did a little research on this as well, basically if you could spin a carbon fiber tank that could hold the pressure, it would have to be really really thick in order to overcome the brittleness issues, hence you see combo metal/cf spun tanks. Turning a cf tube into a pressure vessel has the same issues, plus overcoming the issue of attaching the “caps” just make you want to pop open a beer and think of something else to do.
I would think that pressure, heat, and abrasion would make for a really hostile environment. Interesting Job Riff!
Knife
This is all just FYI, but I wouldn’t recommend it unless you are a composite engineer.
Pressure vessels are usually steel or aluminum. When composites are added to it, they are fiber-wound around the existing vessel.
I may be wrong, but AFAIK there are no pressure vessels made using solely carbon fibers.
We make tubes for the oil/gas industry that are used in fracking tools. They have to withstand 9,000 psi at 350°F, and are tested to 14,000. It took us 3 years to get a qualified tube built that would consistently survive the pressure test at that temperature.
We have been trying for years to build tools that will survive hotter temperatures, but every attempt has failed. That’s why they still use cast iron tools in those environments.
FYI, there are 3 tools we build for and the smallest ID is 1.5″ with a wall thickness of over .3″
The smallest tube weighs 7 pounds, and is 19 inches long. Not ideal for an airgun application.
I cannot describe the layout of the fibers for obvious reasons.
Carbon is carbon, but it comes in various fiber counts and thicknesses. Almost any type of carbon could be used, but a 200gsm carbon is industry standard.
The real science isn’t the carbon you use, its the resin system (called the “matrix”). There are thousands of recipes and only a few will withstand the repeated expansion/contraction of a pressure vessel. Almost all of these recipes are custom developed, and are not publicly available.
I am not an engineer but I work with several. I am the raw material buyer for our company.
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My question had no problems in the use of carbon fibers in the air tube?
Does anybody has to use it!