What are the differences between fiberglass and other fibers(eg:carbon fiber)in terms of price, strength,etc..

Question

I decided to use fiberglass as the body panel of my racing car, how/why it would be the best material?

Answer 1

About strength it depends on how many fibers and how much of resin you put in the piece..
About price Fiberglass is usually cheaper than kevlar and carbon fiber, and fiberglass is the most resistent to humidity....
But in composites there are a lot of variables to consider, how many layers, their direction,the way you work them(temperature,pressure,...under the press, in a hoven, elastomeric tooling, filament welding...) ecc ecc.....very complex....

Answer 2

warm - concerning to distinctly spiced or somewhat heated to the point of it transforming into unbearable to the contact. high-quality - damaged down into peices sufficiently small to very virtually be considered debris. horny - To be considered so acceptable that you would imagine having "sex" with that individual. it style of feels through theyr definishuns that none of those words have any relashun with eachuther :)

Answer 3

Fiberglass or glassfibre is material made from extremely fine fibers of glass. It is used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; the resulting composite material, properly known as fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) or glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), is called "fiberglass" in popular usage.

Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of fiberglass was only made possible with the advent of finer machine-tooling. In 1893, Edward Drummond Libbey exhibited a dress at the World's Columbian Exposition incorporating glass fibers with the diameter and texture of silk fibers. What is commonly known as "fiberglass" today, however, was invented in 1938 by Russell Games Slayter of Owens-Corning as a material to be used as insulation. It is marketed under the trade name Fiberglas, which has become a genericized trademark.

Glass fibers are useful because of their high ratio of surface area to weight. However, the increased surface makes them much more susceptible to chemical attack.

By trapping air within them, blocks of glass fibre make good thermal insulation, with a thermal conductivity of 0.04 W/mK.

Glass strengths are usually tested and reported for "virgin" fibers which have just been manufactured. The freshest, thinnest fibers are the strongest and this is thought to be due to the fact that it is easier for thinner fibers to bend. The more the surface is scratched, the less the resulting tenacity is. Because glass has an amorphous structure, its properties are the same along the fiber and across the fiber.Humidity is an important factor in the tensile strength. Moisture is easily adsorbed, and can worsen microscopic cracks and surface defects, and lessen tenacity.

In contrast to carbon fiber, glass can undergo more elongation before it breaks.

The viscosity of the molten glass is very important for manufacturing success. During drawing (pulling of the glass to reduce fiber circumference) the viscosity should be relatively low. If it is too high the fiber will break during drawing, however if it is too low the glass will form droplets rather than drawing out into fiber.

Carbon fiber reinforced plastic or (CFRP or CRP), is a very strong, light and expensive composite material or fiber reinforced plastic. Similar to glass-reinforced plastic, which is sometimes simply called fiberglass, the composite material is commonly referred to by the name of its reinforcing fibers (carbon fiber). The plastic is most often epoxy, but other plastics, such as polyester, vinylester or nylon, are also sometimes used. Some composites contain both carbon fiber and fiberglass reinforcement. Less commonly, the term graphite-reinforced plastic is also used.

It has many applications in aerospace and automotive fields, as well as in sailboats, and notably in modern bicycles, where these qualities are of importance. It is becoming increasingly common in small consumer goods as well, such as laptop computers, tripods, fishing rods, racquet sports frames, stringed instrument bodies, classical guitar strings, and drum shells.

CFRP is used extensively in automobile racing, especially in Formula One and Indycar racing. The high cost of carbon fiber is mitigated by the material's unsurpassed strength-to-weight ratio, and low weight is essential for high-performance automobile racing. Racecar manufacturers have also developed methods to give carbon fiber pieces strength in a certain direction, making it strong in a load-bearing direction, but weak in directions where little or no load would be placed on the member. Conversely, manufacturers developed omnidirectional carbon fiber weaves that apply strength in all directions. This type of carbon fiber assembly is most widely used in the "safety cell" monocoque chassis assembly of high-performance racecars.

Several supercars over the past few decades have incorporated CFRP extensively in their manufacture, using it for their monocoque chassis as well as other components. Examples include the Koenigsegg CCR, Koenigsegg CCX, McLaren F1, Bugatti Veyron, Bugatti EB110, Pagani Zonda, Enzo Ferrari and Porsche Carrera GT.

Until recently, the material has had limited use in mass-produced cars because of the expense involved in terms of materials, equipment, and the relatively limited pool of individuals with expertise in working with it. Recently, several mainstream vehicle manufacturers such as General Motors and BMW have started to use carbon fiber technology in everyday road cars.

Chevrolet is using carbon fiber in a special version of its flagship sports car, the Corvette. The Z06, a special high performance version of the Corvette, includes carbon fiber front bodywork for reduced weight and added rigidity instead of glass-reinforced plastic bodywork found in the standard Corvette.

BMW produces carbon fiber reinforced plastics in its Landshut plant. To make the roof of the BMW M3 CSL, for example, five layers of carbon fiber cloth are placed in an 1,800 ton press, where epoxy is resin transfer molded and heat-cured in a robot-automated process. The resulting roof is half the weight of an equivalent steel roof.

Use of the material has been more readily adopted by low-volume manufacturers like TVR who use it primarily for creating body-panels for some of their high-end cars due to its increased strength and decreased weight compared with the glass-reinforced plastic they use for the majority of their products.

Often street racers will purchase a CFRP hood, spoiler or body panel as an aftermarket part for their vehicle. It is common for these parts to remain unpainted to accentuate the look of the carbon fiber weave.