Re: bmw-carphony fiber

[James Moran <bavarian@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Carbon fiber and aramid fibers are completely different.  Kevlar (TM) is
an aramid fiber (polymer) produced by DuPont.  In tension, Kevlar
actually has a higher strength, but it requires more elongation (strain)
to reach its maxiumum strength (stress).  So, structures built with
carbon fiber aren't necessarily stronger than Kevlar structures, but,
they're stiffer.

Why is carbon fiber trim used in production cars?  It looks boss.  BTW,
BMW used real carbon fiber in the M3 LWT.  Not for any weight savings,
but because it looked boss.

Jim Moran
'88 M6

From: ChrisBourk@domain.elided

> History:
>  Carbon fiber = arimid fiber composit -VERY light, VERY stiff, has some pretty
> kewl properties. In some ways stronger than steel.
> 
> F1 tubs are made of carbon fiber (cf) - (the real stuff) as are some of the
> belts in the real TRX anti theft tires available on special edition M6 cars.
> 
> It seems there is a market for "the race car look" so car companies capitalize
> on this with knock off carbon fiber trim pieces.
> 
> In production cars I believe the fiber used is carbonbolony fiber or
> carbonphony fiber.
> I'm not aware of any car company using carbon fiber - but I'm sure there are
> some.
> 
> Christopher
>

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