Uses and Applications of Carbon Fiber, Composite Materials, Carbon Fiber

Carbon fiber uses for automotive racing and styling

Carbon Fiber Hoods
Carbon Fiber Hoods
Carbon Fiber Trunks
Carbon Fiber Trunks
Carbon Fiber Lips
Carbon Fiber Lips
Carbon Fiber Fenders
Carbon Fiber Fenders

Carbon fiber uses for Sports and Recreation

Carbon Fiber has several unique physical properties such as  superior performance, high specific tensile strength, and specific modulus. It has become a familiar composite material that is used by sporting goods manufacturers that have endeavored to make use of the fibers for basic material of their final products. In the 1970s, fishing rods, golf club shafts and tennis rackets began to be made of carbon fiber and fiberglass composites.  

Although initially discouraging due to a higher price, once the enhanced performance of the materials used became evident, and the price reduction that has come about since, more manufacturers have moved towards carbon fiber and composite manufacturing for their products. The current price has gone down substantially as a vast number of people suddenly started to purchase these high performance goods. Now carbon fibers are an indispensable basic material of sporting goods. Further on, the manufacturers have been developing various sporting/leisure goods made of the fibers. 

Fishing Rods

This is one of the application items in which you can make the most of the special features of Carbon Fibers (light weight, high rigidity, high sensitivity).
Started with fishing rods for ayu, use of Carbon Fibers expanded to fishing rods for small size fishes with very sensitive strikes. On account of high rigidity (stiffness) Carbon Fiber rods, as something like extension of one’s arms, give fishers the feeling of even more subtle strikes.

Golf Clubs

As golf shafts made of Carbon Fibers (carbon shafts) are far lighter than those made of metal, the swing speed with a given power becomes higher with carbon shafts than with metal shafts. In the beginning, carbon shafts became popular among senior players and ladies as an effective way to increase driving distance of them. Now carbon shafts golf clubs are commonly used by most of professional and amateur golf players.

Park Golf

Park Golf courses are being built now mainly in northern districts of Japan.
Unlike usual golf courses, park golf courses do not require huge sites. In many cases they are set up on lawn fields in various parks. It is a light sport easily enjoyable by wide range of peoples from children to adults. In order to improve scores, however, it requires also a certain skill. More and more players are looking for better equipment. Also in park golf, carbon shafts using Carbon Fibers are becoming more and more popular now.

Tennis Rackets

Tennis is a hard sport requiring big quantity of motion. Rackets that use Carbon Fibers can be by far lighter than those that use wood or metal and can reduce burden on players. This is the reason why they have become popular drastically. (Improvements in racket design such as enlarged sweet spot also contributed to the popularization.)
It seems that they are more attractive to players also because of their longer service life than wooden rackets’.

Canoes

By the use of Carbon Fibers, canoes have become light enough to be able to be transported by passenger cars. By this, canoe population seems to have increased. Speed is most important for racing canoes. It is, therefore, advantageous to use Carbon Fibers to attain higher speed by reducing weight. Furthermore, Carbon Fiber canoes can cope with shooting down the rapids due to their toughness.

Baseball Bats

Carbon Fiber bats have gained public favor mainly in amateur baseball and Softball.
The reasons for it are that the numbness of hands when hitting balls can be reduced, speed of balls hit is higher and the flying distance becomes longer, as well as that the hitting sound and hitting feeling are similar to those of wooden bats.
On account of these advantages along with reduced availability of wood resources, this is one of the areas in which more popular use of Carbon Fibers is expected.

 

Other uses for carbon fiber:

Carbon Fiber Skateboard –  Hocky and Lacrosse Shafts –  Carbon Fiber Oars

                          

Wind Generator Blades – Carbon Fiber Cello –  Carbon Fiber Chair

            


Photography Equipment  –  Airbus A380 –    Concept Car

           


Utensils         –        Mountain & Road Bikes     –             Paddles

   


Oars    –       Radio Controlled Aircraft   –    Robotics

     

sporting equipment – paintball marker barrels and tanks – arrows – yachts – rowboats – gears –  High performance vehicles – Sport tuner cars – aftermarket motorcycle parts – Etc.