Learn how to make your own high-quality carbon fiber parts: https://darkaero.com/courses

Before we started building the DarkAero 1, we had to learn a lot about carbon fiber. I want to share with you some important information about this material that will give you a better understanding of it, especially if you want to engineer a part made from carbon fiber.

This video covers 5 important things you need to know about carbon fiber.

1) Not all carbon fiber is created equal
- Carbon fiber is made up of small filaments. There are different "types" of filaments of different degrees of strength and stiffness. Additionally, there are different grades of cloth which determine the number of defects in your cloth weave. It’s important to understand what “type” and grade is right for your project.

2) Resin is the unsung hero
- It's easy to focus on the carbon fiber alone. However, you need to pay equal attention to the resin used. The resin allows carbon fiber parts to hold their shape and transfer load from one fiber to the next.

3) Carbon fiber is coated with a secret sauce
- Carbon fiber manufacturers will add a coupling agent (aka "sizing" or "finish") to filaments. This coating helps the resin bind to the carbon fiber. Without the coupling agent or proper coupling agent, the strength of your parts can be reduced.

4) Process drives properties
- The process (wet layup, prepreg, infusion, etc.) you select will ultimately partially determine the properties of your part. Process drives fiber to resin ratio and part defects. Understand which process makes most sense for the goals of your carbon fiber part(s).

5) Test or be tested
- Because there are so many variables that go into carbon fiber, there aren’t good sources of published material properties available to use for design. This means you need to perform testing to verify your parts meet the desired requirements.

Intro - 00:00
Not All Carbon Fiber Is Created Equal - 00:37
Resin is the Unsung Hero - 03:10
Carbon Fiber is Coated with a Secret Sauce - 05:15
Process Determines Properties - 06:24
Test or be Tested - 08:10
Outro - 09:43

Read more this subject here:
https://www.darkaero.com/knowledge/co...

DarkAero Composites Manufacturing Overview
https://www.darkaero.com/knowledge/co...

Recommended Literature
Composite Basics - https://amzn.to/2MRNxRw
Composite Airframe Structures - https://amzn.to/2LTCSW1

DarkAero Composites Consulting
https://www.darkaero.com/consulting

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If you enjoyed this video and would like to see more of this type of content, follow along as we work to create the fastest, longest range aircraft you can build in your garage!

More information on DarkAero can be found on our website and other social media accounts:
https://www.darkaero.com
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