Application of Carbon Fiber in Aerospace, Sports and Industrial Areas   

By High-Performance Composite Materials Research Group, CNCIC

Carbon fiber has high strength, high modulus, low density, good shock absorption and excellent heat resistance and corrosion resistance. In recent years, its application has expanded from the fields of aerospace and sports into industrial areas, and the consumption of carbon fiber in industrial areas has kept growing. In 2010, the global consumption structure of carbon fiber was as follows: the industrial sector accounted for 50% of the total consumption of carbon fiber, the aerospace sector took up 25% and others occupied 25%. It is expected that in 2020, the industrial sector will account for more than 75%, and the aerospace sector will occupy about 20%. Meanwhile, a variety of new carbon fiber composite materials have been developed in recent years. High-strength and high-modulus PAN-based carbon fiber composites, such as Zylon, HS, M65J and M5, and inorganic (ceramic, metal, etc.) and organic (PBO, aramid, etc.) carbon fiber composites have been fully developed.

Application of carbon fiber in aerospace sector grows steadily

The aerospace sector is the traditional market of carbon fiber. In 2010, the global demand for carbon fiber composite materials in the aerospace sector was 7 250 tons, up16.9% year on year (y/y). In the next few years, it will grow 16% annually, on average, and reach 13 000 tons in 2014. But its proportion in the total demand for carbon fiber will remain essentially unchanged or even decrease slightly.
   Due to its excellent performances, carbon fiber is playing an increasingly important role in large aircrafts, unmanned aircrafts, manned spacecrafts, missiles, satellites, aircraft engines, naval ships and land-based weapons. The X-37B unmanned space planes which the United States launched in April 2010 and March 2011 attracted widespread attention. Advanced composite materials contributed much to them. For the first time, X-37B used the C/Si/C composite material and took carbon fiber / bismaleimide composite material as its main structural material. UAV (unmanned aerial vehicles) play an increasingly important role in intelligence, surveillance and detection. The ultra-light and ultra-large composite structure technology is the key to improving the sustainability, viability, reliability and payload capacity of the UAV. The United States' Global Hawk UAV is the first aircraft that has an extensive use of carbon fiber composite materials, and Global Observer UAV is totally made of carbon fiber composite materials. Modern sea wars have put higher demands on the stealth, mobility and use life of naval ships. The carbon fiber-based ship structure technology has made an important contribution to enhancing the survival ability of the naval ships. The Zumwalt destroyer's hull and cabins are made up of carbon fiber laminated composite materials, so its stealth performance is greatly improved. The main structure of USS M80 is made of carbon fiber composite materials, and its maximum speed reaches 92 km/h.

Application of carbon fiber in sports is gradually saturated

The sports sector is a carbon fiber market that was developed earlier and still has a steady demand for carbon fiber. Currently, this market has been saturating. In 2010, the global demand for carbon fiber in this sector was 10 800 tons, up 13.7% y/y, and it is expected to reach 17 000 tons in 2014.
   In the field of sports and leisure, carbon fiber composite materials are primarily used for the manufacture of golf equipment, a variety of rackets (for tennis, hockey, badminton, etc.), fishing rods, bicycles, gigs, racing cars, bows and arrows, skis, rods, skateboards, etc. Currently, among the global bike market, high-end bicycles and special-purpose mountain bikes account for a share of about 5% and are an important consumer area of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials. The frames, front fork components, wheels, cranks and seat holders of high-end bikes can be made of carbon fiber reinforced composite materials, which can take up 30% to 40% of the total weight of such a high-end bike. Carbon fiber reinforced composite materials can give bikes good body rigidity and damping performance while reducing their weight. USA-based Trek’s Madone series road bicycles use the latest carbon fiber technology - OCLV HexSL, which can reduce the frame weight of a bicycle by 100 grams while maintaining the same characteristics. France's Salomen SA uses 100% CFRP materials to make bicycle wheels, reducing both the production cycle and manufacturing cost. According to Japan's Toray Industries' statistics and forecasts, the demand for carbon fiber from the global bicycle market is shown in Table 1.
   Carbon fiber composite materials can significantly reduce weight and also has high corrosion resistance, so they have a broad application prospect in boats, such as lifeboats, patrol boats, yachts, sports boats and sailing boats. They can be used to make hulls, decks, cabins, windsurfing masts, rudders and other key components of boats. If an 18-ton aluminum-based boat is made of carbon fiber composite materials, its weight can be reduced by 11 tons. This can greatly improve the safety and operability of the boat. For boats running within large-scale ports, if they are made of carbon fiber composite materials, this can reduce their weight and improve their maneuverability significantly. Most yachts made by Baltic Inc are mainly made up of carbon fiber. For large vessels with very high stress, carbon fiber is their mainstream structural material.

Application in the industrial sector increases rapidly

In recent years, the consumption of carbon fiber in industrial areas has kept growing. In 2010, it reached 23 200 ton, up 20.8% y/y. In 2014, it will grow to 44 500 tons. Its share in the whole consumption structure of carbon fiber will keep rising. Among the three main application areas of carbon fiber, its application in the industrial sector ranks first in terms of both quantity and share. The industrial sector is the most dynamic and most promising application area of carbon fiber composite materials.
   Due to their excellent performances, carbon fiber composite materials have early been applied in infrastructure and civil engineering. This area annually consumes around 1 000 tons of carbon fiber, about 3 million to 4 million square meters of carbon fiber cloth and about 1 million square meters of carbon fiber boards. In addition, the repair, update and reinforcement of bridges, large buildings and squares also need a large amount of carbon fiber composite materials annually.
   As a type of clean and renewable energy, wind energy is attracting more and more attention and is developing very fast. It is expected that in 2020, the global wind power installed capacity will reach 1 billion kW, and the consumption of carbon fiber by wind turbine blades will reach more than 110 000 tons.
   When carbon fiber composite materials are used in cars, they can significantly reduce the weight and fuel consumption of the cars and improve their performances. Major carbon fiber producers have begun to cooperate with car manufacturers. Toray and Germany's Daimler are jointly developing the application of carbon fiber composite materials in automotives. Japan's Toho and Toyota jointly set up the Composite Materials Innovation Centre to research and develop carbon fiber composite parts for LEA sports cars. Germany's SGL cooperates with BMW to build a 3000 t/a large tow carbon fiber plant for the production of electric vehicles.
   Carbon fiber and other composite materials like honeycomb sandwich-structure composite materials are being widely applied in modern railway vehicles,