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Getting Your Product Started
Getting Your Carbon Fiber Parts Started
"Can carbon fiber parts actually be manufactured to be lighter, stronger, corrosion resistant and still cost 10%, 20%, even 30% less cash than aluminum and steel?" | |||||||||
| Sunday, January 16, 2011By Allyson Pellegrino | |||||||||
| Recently, I interviewed Anthony, chief composites engineer for Illstreet composites who has over 30 years of experience in Composites Engineering . It took some convincing to get his attention away from doing computer models and analysis on exciting carbon fiber projects but I finally got him to sit down and set the record straight with some hard facts and evidence to answer the questions below so KEEP READING because it will be quite some time before I can steal his attention again. | |||||||||
| Me: At Illstreet you make sure every project that goes out is lighter than when it came in. Most projects that are sent in are made either from steel or aluminum. How is it that you can guarantee 100% that its carbon fiber counterpart will be lighter but just as strong or stronger?Tony: What most people don't realize is that with a steel or aluminum part you are wasting about 50% of the material being used. With carbon fiber we are able to create a stress analysis to show us exactly where the material is needed to carry the weight load. Not only does using less material keep the weight down but carbon fiber itself is a light material. Generally carbon fiber parts are 70% lighter than steel, 50% lighter than aluminum and 30% lighter than fiberglass. Of course, anyone with a question about how carbon compares to what their part is made of right now should call me at 877-696-4455. |  | ||||||||
| "Illstreet took the doors from my Grand National, which is the second fastest in the world, and reduced the weight from 97 lb's each to 33 lb's each. Switching to Carbon Fiber doors is going to allow me to distribute weight in more beneficial places and will most likely take me to number one in the world." | |||||||||
| Me: Ok, but does less material limit your design ability or canvas to work with? Tony: No no no of course not. As long as we put the material in the right place where the load is going to be it can be designed however you want it. Plus carbon fiber looks great and shows customers your product uses cutting edge technology which equates to more cash in YOUR pocket! | |||||||||
 | Me: So once something is recreated with carbon fiber how do you know this thing is going to hold up in the "real world"? Tony: (Laughs) In the "real world" carbon fiber has been tested more than any other material. There have been TONS of studies on corrosion, crack growth, every kind of stress and thermal and electrical conductivity. From the results, steel and aluminum clearly don't have anything on Carbon fiber. It doesn't corrode and has very low signs of fatigue (much lower than most metals), also when tested for crack growth it proves to have a natural crack stopping ability. Me: Carbon fiber has my vote so far but what about the thermal conductivity? It's a black material so I bet that gets hot fast. | ||||||||
| These snowmobile brackets came in made out of steel. We then altered the shape a little and only put material where needed to bare the weight load. Not only did this part come back beautiful and lighter it showed no deflection at 1000lbs when tested against the steel part which did have some deflection.-Snowmobile Racing Team | |||||||||
| Tony: Actually it has low thermal conductivity and transfers heat as well as electricity pretty well. I'll give you a hands on challenge. Take a carbon fiber pole and a steel one out in the hot summer sun for an hour or so, then go and see which one you can hold onto longer. Me: I'll just take your word on it, you are the composites engineer after all. So you have made a lot of valid points but I know carbon fiber is cutting edge technology and I have heard it is very expensive so whats the secret for how are you able to manufacture products cheaper than steel or aluminum ? | |||||||||
Tony: Well, I can't say it is ALWAYS less expensive, but it is less expensive at least 90% of the time. Like I mentioned before, we use only the materials NEEDED to make a structurally sound carbon fiber part, but also the way carbon fiber parts are fashioned we are able to consolidate the amount of parts we need to assemble. That in itself will save you time which then lowers your costs of labor and materials, but the real advantage is what I'm about to tell you next. The lower fatigue and crack resistance mean less returns or replacements for the customer and everyone likes to keep customers happy while staying in line with the latest technological advances. For example, just recently the coast guard has removed its first generation composite boats from the water after 60 years of defending our nations coast line. Not because the boats are falling apart, but for hull design updates and outdated equipment on board. Its been proven that over time carbon fiber doesn't lose its "mojo" strange as it may be its "mojo" is thought to increase over time. | |||||||||
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| After recieving our carbon fiber planks we thoroughly tested them and found that they were better than our steel planks by leaps and bounds.Also the planks started out as 6 pieces welded together but with carbon fiber we combined all 6 pieces and made one continuous mold therefore you get a solid finished product made from carbon fiber. | |||||||||
| Me: Wow, that's impressive. Not only do you not have to worry about corrosion or getting burned but you have light, strong and aesthetically appealing parts that are cheap! "Who would of thought that carbon fiber could be such a GAME CHANGER?" Now that everyone is sold on why this is such an AWESOME product how do you get started reinventing your product out of carbon fiber? | |||||||||
Now that you've read this interview, undoubtedly you'll pick up the phone and call 877-696-4455 to see how carbon fiber can improve YOUR product. |   | ||||||||
| Illstreet manufactured a series of dial tables for my manufacturing company I was ecstatic with the outcome. Illstreet's carbon fiber rotary indexer table lowered the weight of my table by 329lbs (85% weight reduction). It increased production by 45% and saved us gobs of money on the smaller indexer we are able to run now. Amazing value!" | |||||||||
By the time you finish reading this article you will know how to improve your product with the amazing benefits of carbon fiber WHILE SAVING MONEY. Clearly you like what you're reading about carbon fiber, because your still interested so let's take it to the next step. STEP 1: Call (877-696-4455) or email illstreet and let us know about your product and the problems you currently have. We've heard it all:
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STEP 2: Once I understand what your product is all about I can put together a little estimate for engineering and best guess of what it will take to get you in the 21st century. Once you see how great the savings are we can begin the composite engineering process. Imagine your product weighing less, being stronger, looking amazing and costing less! Think about the unbelievable marketing opportunities with such a light and strong product! You'll be provided with all of the amazing drawings, videos, numbers and analysis that we perform on your product. We will be able to tell you:
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