The document provides an overview of carbon fiber, including its history, properties, manufacturing process, and applications in the automotive industry. Some key points discussed include: - Carbon fiber was first developed in the late 1800s and saw increased use in aircraft and racing cars starting in the 1960s and 1970s. - It is 5 times stronger than steel but only one-quarter of the weight, making it useful for applications requiring strength and light weight. - The manufacturing process involves drawing precursor materials like polyacrylonitrile into fibers, which are then woven and molded. - Carbon fiber composites promise benefits like mass reduction, improved fuel efficiency, crashworthiness, and lower emissions when used in automobiles.

1. Sherajul Haque
Politecnico Di Torino

2. Contents
Introduction and literature review
Carbon fiber
Application of carbon fiber in Automotive industry
conclusion

3. History of carbon fiber
 Late 1800s - Thomas Edison carbonized cotton and bamboo to make filaments for
his early incandescent light bulbs.
 Late 1950s - Rayon made high tensile strength carbon fibers. Rayon later replaced
by pitch and polyacrylonitrile (PAN).
 Early 1960s - First practical commercial uses of carbon fibers. With high
performance, light weight, and high stiffness and strength, the use of carbon fibers
resulted in lighter and faster aircraft. Plus, aircraft were better able to withstand
the extremely high temperatures of atmospheric re-entry because of the heat
resistance of carbon fiber.
 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s - Carbon fibers were produced mainly for the Department
of Defense. Carbon fibers were also used in NASCAR and Formula 1 cars to make
them lighter and more efficient.
 Early 21st
century - Carbon fiber production expanded significantly due to increased
demand in the industrial, sporting goods, energy, aerospace, and wind energy
industries. Production capacities expanded in Asia, the United States, and Europe.

4. History of Incorporating carbon fiber in automotive
 The use of Composites in Automobile is not a new invention; they are used in the
automobiles as early as 1930s.
 In 1930 Henry Ford attempted to use Soya Oil to produce a Phenolic resin and
hence to produce a Wood filled composition material for car bodies
 Henry Ford started a R&D lab to find commercial uses for soy beans. In 1940 he
produced a demonstration car with a soy-composite trunk lid.
 The 1952 Woodill Wildfire had a fiberglass body and beat the first Chevrolet
Corvette, to market by one year – volume 300 over 6 years.
 The first Corvette was built on June 30, 1953 and had a fiberglass body. A total of
315 cars were produced in 1953. Today’s numbers are 30,000 to 40,000.

5. Future of carbon fiber

6. Future of carbon fiber
 According to The Future of Carbon Fiber to 2017: Global Market Forecasts, this is
what the future looks like for the carbon fiber market:
 Annual growth rate of 17 percent through 2017.
 Production of 118,600 metric tons with a market value of $7.3 billion by 2017.
 For carbon fiber-reinforced plastics, annual growth rate of 16 percent through
2012.
 Composite World's Carbon Fiber conference in 2009 forecasted the increase in the
demand for carbon fiber through 2018, as shown in the table.
 1981: McLaren introduces the first Formula 1 car built using carbon fibre - the
MP4/1

7. Criteria for material selection
in automotive industry
The selection of a material for an automotive application requires
the evaluation of a number of specific criteria including
 Performance Aspects i.e. Efficient and Economical Drive
 Ecological Aspects – Environmental Friendly Drive
 Safety Aspects (In case of Crash)
 Styling Needs
 Cost

8. Key Promises of Composites in automotive
Mass saving – Fuel Efficient Drive
 Environmental Friendly Drive
 Safety – Crash Worthiness

9. Mass Saving Fuel Efficient Drive
 Lower mass means better fuel economy, but it’s first intrinsic advantage is an
increase in acceleration and top speed, measures by which all sports cars are
judged.
 Virtually all the world’s “super cars,” or those with a top speed exceeding 322
kilometers per hour (200 mph) and 0-100 kph (0-60 mph) times under four
seconds, make extensive use of carbon fiber to attain these performance
figures.
 Carbon fiber is about 10 times stronger and 75 percent lighter than steel.

11. Environmental Friendly Drive
 Moves toward tighter limits on vehicle CO2 emissions, already being seen in
Europe and elsewhere, are expected to spread to the rest of the world.
Automakers face a pressing need for technical innovation to reduce CO2, such as
by making lighter-weight cars and developing electric vehicles (EV).
 Against this backdrop of stricter CO2 restrictions, Teijin anticipates growing
demand for carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) replacing high-tension steel and
other materials as EVs, hybrid vehicles and other next-generation eco-cars become
more common.

12. Crash Worthiness (safety)
The crashworthiness design fundamentals include the below points
 Maintain occupant survivable volume or occupant space
 Restrain Occupants (within that space)
Limit occupants deceleration within tolerable levels
 Retain “Safety – cage” Integrity
Minimize post crash hazards

13. Crash Worthiness (safety)
Material is said to have good crashworthiness or safe if it has high absorption of
energy resulting out of crash. Brittle fracture is characterized by very low plastic
deformation and low energy absorption prior to breaking. A crack, formed as a result
of the brittle fracture, propagates fast and without increase of the stress applied to
material. The brittle crack is perpendicular to stress direction. The energy is absorbed
by the structure of plastic buckling shown as below. As a result the impact of the crash
will be reduced at the end of structure
Composite materials undergo observable plastic deformation and absorb
significant energy before fracture. A crack, formed as a result of the ductile fracture,
propagates slowly and when the stress is increased.

14. Crash Worthiness (safety)

15. Carbon fiber

16. Carbon Fiber
 Carbon fiber is defined as a fiber containing at least 92 wt % carbon, while the fiber
containing at least 99 wt % carbon is usually called a graphite fiber.
 It is a material consisting of several fibers and composed mostly of carbon atoms.
 Each fiber is about 0.5-1.5 micron in diameter.

17. Carbon Fiber
o The crystal alignment gives the fiber high strength- to-volume ratio.
o Carbon fibers are usually combined with other materials to form a composite.
o When combined with a plastic resin and wound or molded it forms carbon fiber
reinforced plastic.

18. Carbon Fiber
o Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic has a very high strength-to-weight ratio, and is
extremely rigid and brittle.
o Carbon Fibers are also composed with other materials, such as with graphite to
form carbon-carbon composites, which have a very high heat tolerance.

19. Carbon Fiber
Grades of Carbon Fiber
UHM (ultra high modulus). Modulus of elasticity > 65400 ksi (450GPa).
HM (high modulus). Modulus of elasticity is in the range 51000-65400 ksi (350-
450GPa).
IM (intermediate modulus). Modulus of elasticity is in the range 29000-51000 ksi
(200-350GPa).
HT (high tensile, low modulus). Tensile strength > 436 ksi (3 GPa), Modulus of
elasticity < 14500 ksi (100 GPa).
SHT (super high tensile). Tensile strength > 650 ksi (4.5GPa).

20. Carbon Fiber
Carbon Fibers – an appropriate choice for Composites
Carbon fibers are used for reinforcing polymer matrix due to the following their
properties:
Very high modulus of elasticity exceeding that of steel
High tensile strength, which may reach 1000 ksi (7 GPa)
Low density: 114 lb/ft³ (1800 kg/m³)
High chemical inertness.
The most popular matrix materials for manufacturing Carbon Fiber Reinforced
Polymers (CFRP) are thermosets such as epoxy, polyester and thermoplastics such as
nylon (polyamide). Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) materials usually have
laminate structure, providing reinforcing in two perpendicular directions.

21. Properties of carbon fiber
 High tensile strength.
 Low thermal expansion.
 Electrically and thermally conductive.
 Light weight and low density.
 High abrasion and wear resistance.

22. Carbon fiber VS steel
 Carbon Fiber is actually 5 times stronger than steel. It is also 2 times more stiff. This
material has a really very strength-to-weight ratio, which makes it great for almost
anything that requires high strength and low weight

23. Basic comparisn

24.  Specific Strength (Strength to weight Ratio – KN-m/KG)
 Tensile Strength – MPa
Carbon
fiber
Glass
Fiber
Spider
silk
Carbon
EPX
composite
Balsa
axial
load
Steel
alloy
Al. alloy Nylon
2457 1307 1069 785 521 254 222 69
Carbon
fiber
alone
Carbon
fiber in
laminate
Glass
fiber
alone
Glass
fiber
laminate
Carbon
steel
Stainless
steel
Al. alloy Kevler
4127 1600 3450 1500 3600 860 483 2757

25. Manufacturing Challenges
The manufacturing of carbon fibers carries a number of challenges, including:
 The need for more cost effective recovery and repair.
 Close control required to ensure consistent quality.
 Health and safety issues
 Skin irritation
 Breathing irritation

26. Advantages of Carbon fiber
 It has the greatest compressive strength of all reinforcing materials.
 Long service life.
 Low coefficient of thermal expansion.
 Its density is much lower than the density of steel.
 Exhibit properties better than any other metal.
 Insensitive to temperature changes

27. Disadvantages of carbon fiber
 The main disadvantage of carbon fiber is its cost.
 This fiber will cause some forms of cancer of the lungs.

28. Manufacturing of carbon fiber
 Carbon fiber is currently produced in relatively limited quantities mostly via two
manufacturing processes:
 Based on pitch (coal tar and petroleum products)
 Based on Polyacrylonitrile (PAN)
 Current global capacity for pitch-based carbon fiber is estimated at about 3,500
metric tons per year.
 Global use for PAN-based carbon fiber is increasing rapidly, and total production
capacity currently does not meet the demand.
 PAN-based carbon fiber is more expensive to produce, hence, limiting its use to
high end applications, (used primarily by aerospace and sporting equipment
industries).

29. Manufacturing process
 In the manufacturing process, the raw material, which is called precursor, is drawn
into long strands or fibers. The fibers are woven into fabric or combined with other
materials that are molded into desired shapes and sizes.
 There are typically five segments in the manufacturing of carbon fibers from the
PAN process. These are:
Spinning:
PAN mixed with other ingredients and spun into fibers, which are washed and
stretched.

30. Manufacturing process
Stabilizing:
Chemical alteration to stabilize bonding.
Carbonizing:
Stabilized fibers heated to very high temperature forming tightly bonded carbon
crystals.
Treating the Surface:
Surface of fibers oxidized to improve bonding properties.

31. Manufacturing process
Sizing:
Fibers are coated and wound onto bobbins, which are loaded onto spinning
machines that twist the fibers into different size yarns. Instead of being woven
into fabrics, fibers may be formed into composites. To form composite materials,
heat, pressure, or a vacuum binds fibers together with a plastic polymer.

32. Manufacturing process

33. Structure
 The atomic structure of carbon fiber is similar to that of graphite, consisting of
sheets of carbon atoms arranged in a regular hexagonal pattern.
 Graphite is a crystalline material in which the sheets are stacked parallel to one
another in regular fashion.

34. A 6 μm diameter carbon filament compared to a human hair.

35. Current Developments
Exploration of alternative precursors to reduce carbon fiber raw material costs. One
promising candidate is lignin, a waste produced during pulping to make paper. This is
a joint program or Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and North Carolina State
University NCSU.
Microwave heating of PAN precursor in a plasma instead of using less-energy-
efficient thermal processing increases the speed and reduces the cost of producing
carbon fibers. The project showed that a properly designed and implemented
microwave-assisted plasma energy delivery system might quadruple production speed
and reduce energy needs and fiber price by up to 20%, this is a joint program of
Engineering Technology Division (ETD) of ORNL and Fusion Energy Division
Investigators to develop materials for NASA.
In a separate development reported recently, Mitusbishi Rayon and SGL Group have
formed a joint venture company to produce PAN-based precursors for the production
of carbon fibres for automotive applications.

36. Technical textile in Automobile
 Mankind knows textiles by generations. On a broad outlook it appears that textiles
have no application other than apparel purposes. But as a matter of fact, there are
non-apparel uses of textiles such as technical applications.
 Automotive textile is an integral aspect of technical textile. Since it cannot be
classified in apparel textile, it is more of a techno mechanical application of textile.
Industrial textiles are widely used in transportation vehicles and systems including
cars, trains, buses, airplanes and marine vehicles. Hence, the term automobile
textile means all type of textile components e.g. fibers, filaments, yarns and the
fabric used in automobiles.

37. Technical textile in Automobile
 Building moderately priced cars from CFRP had long been a holy grail for
automotive engineers, because a carbon chassis weighs half as much as a steel
counterpart and 30 percent less than aluminum. The savings in weight translates
into better performance and higher fuel efficiency. Therefore, it’s a material of
choice for everything from Formula One racers and America’s Cup yachts to jet
fighters, spacecraft, and the Boeing 787.
 Tighter limits on vehicle CO2 emissions, already being seen in Europe and
elsewhere, are expected to spread to the rest of the world. Automakers face a
pressing need for technical innovation to reduce CO2, such as by making lighter-
weight cars and developing electric vehicles (EV). Against this backdrop of stricter
CO2 restrictions, Automakers anticipates growing demand for carbon fiber
reinforced plastic (CFRP) replacing high-tension steel and other materials as EVs,
hybrid vehicles and other next-generation eco-cars become more common.

38. Why choose CFRP

39. Scope of Using CFRP & CF in automobile

40. Fibers used in various components

41. CFRP in BMW i3
 CFRP is not only light, it is stronger than steel, very rigid, and can absorb an
enormous amount of impact energy. When subjected to high-speed impacts, the
CFRP panels on the BMW i3 show barely any deformation. In the event of a crash,
the ultra rigid carbon fiber structure creates a safe space for passengers. The
rigidity of the Life module also means the i3 doesn't require a B-Pillar.
 CFRP has historically been too expensive to manufacture in quantities required for
a high-volume car. BMW developed new manufacturing techniques to reduce
costs. The process begins at a factory in Moses Lake Washington that's run by a
joint venture between BMW and the SGL Group (SGL Automotive Carbon Fibers).
The capacity of the plant is 1,500 tonnes a year, which is about 10 percent of global
CFRP production today.

42. CFRP in BMW i3
 Even if the carbon fibers aren't renewably sourced from plant material, they are
readily recyclable. BMW's factories can separate the resins from the fibers, with no
damage to the fibers, allowing them to be reused in manufacturing new
components.

43. Advantages of CFRP
 The i3 is a funky, tall-roofed city car with a roughly 160-kilometer range, a 160-
km/h top speed, and a carbon-fiber “Life” module that weighs just 120 kg less than
some passengers.
 As a result in i3’s total life-cycle carbon dioxide emissions will be one-third less than
that of the most efficient internal-combustion cars—50 percent less if the i3 is
recharged using renewable energy.

44. Life drive Architecture of BMW i3

45. BMW i3

46. CFRP in Super cars
 Race cars and high-end supercars have been using CFRP materials for decades and
continue to increase the carbon fibre content in their construction. The Lamborgini
Murcielago 12-cylinder sports car makes extensive use of CFRP – 31% of total
weight – including the body, floor, transmission tunnel, wheel housings and
bumper section of the chassis.
 The new Lexus LFA premium sports car has been designed with a carbon fiber cabin
that weighs 100 kg (220.5 lb) less than a comparable aluminium cabin and retains
the same rigidity, the company reports. CFRP represents 65% of the chassis
structure, while aluminium alloys are used in the rest of it. The LFA team also
developed an advanced joining technology to bond carbon fibre and metal
components: flanged aluminium collars, used to link the two materials, require no
inserts in the CFRP components.

47. Teijin’s thermoplastic technology
 Conventional CFRP used thermosetting resin, which hardens when heated.
Requiring several minutes or hours to mold the desired shape, it is not suitable as a
material for mass-produced automobiles.
 Teijin instead uses thermoplastic resin, which softens when heated and hardens
when cooled down. The resulting CFRP can be press-molded in a much shorter
time. Using this material, Teijin developed the world´s first mass production
technology capable of molding a CFRP structural part in less than a minute.
 Not only does the improved production efficiency make mass production feasible,
but the ability to modify the shape after molding opens the way to recycling
through reuse, reforming, or other means.

48. Teijin’s Concept car
 At the beginning of 2011, a concept car was manufactured with a body structure
made entirely of thermoplastic CFRP, making use of Teijin´s newly developed
intermediate materials and new technologies for molding and bonding CFRP
materials. Weight of the body structure is just 47kg, a fifth that of conventional
steel body.

49. Future work
 The future efforts on carbon fiber research will be focused on cost reduction and
property improvement.
 Develop new, cost efficient, and time saving technology.
 Target new application .

50. Conclusion
Textile is a non separating Part of automobile industry.
It is also a value adding factor for automotive which increase the brand value.
Textile has created revolution in automobile.
Environmental friendly.

51. Thank you