Environmental behavior of carbon fibre material
Environmental behavior of carbon fibre material
(OP)
Dear List members, due to its light weight I think about using carbon fibre tubes in a marine/navy-application in the near arctic region. I suppose that the environmental aspects like iceing, sunlight and salt water may damage this material like it would may happen to glas fibre material. Do you know where I can find information about the environmental behavior of carbon fibre materials?





RE: Environmental behavior of carbon fibre material
I don't know about tubes, but Sika Corporation (www.sika.com) makes several different forms of carbon fiber fabrics and rigid plates for the construction industry. They probably have data on environmental exposure.
It is my understanding that the carbon fibers themselves are pretty much immune to most things. It is the resin matrix which is affected by environmental exposure. Cold=brittle Hot=soft, etc....
Hope this helps.
RE: Environmental behavior of carbon fibre material
The resin matrix is an important factor to consider if the structure will be operating in Artic condition, there are a myriad of polymer types to choose from depending on the application. Mil-HDBK-17 (www.mil17.org) is a good starting point of reference it used to be available to download free from the net but not sure if it is now.
The following two references provide some good general data on Naval applications, you may be able to get hold of them by doing a google search.
GRP in Naval Applications. Possibilities and Production Aspects. Jon Taby, Anders Hjelmseth and Bjørn Høyning. RTO-MP-069(SM1)/SM1-11, NATO
Composite Materials in Warship Construction, Patrick Parneix , Jean Yves Le Lan , Dominique Lucas. RTO-MP-069(SM1)/SM1-2-EN, 26th February, 2001.
Hope this helps a little.
Regards,
Igate