What are the usual forms of carbon fiber? 

Carbon fiber has become the choice of lightweight materials in many fields because of its advantages of light weight, high strength, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, dimensional stability, and low creep. At present, there are many manifestations of carbon fiber in the market. This article will take you to understand.

1. Carbon fiber strands: The diameter of carbon fiber strands is very small. Compared with hair strands, it is only about 1/20; but compared with traditional structural materials such as steel and aluminum alloy, its strength advantage is very obvious. Because carbon fiber precursors are made through high temperature, their high temperature resistance is also very good. Carbon fiber precursors can generally be combined to form carbon fiber tows. The specifications of carbon fiber tows are divided into large tows and small tows. The division is rooted in The number of carbon fiber strands, such as 1K, 3K, 6K, 12K, 24K, and 48K, etc., K stands for thousand, and a cluster of carbon fiber strands can contain thousands of carbon fiber strands. The more the number of strands, the larger the tow, and vice versa.

2. Carbon fiber cloth: Carbon fiber cloth is made of carbon fiber weaving, also known as carbon fiber cloth, carbon fiber prepreg, carbon fiber tape, etc. Carbon fiber cloth is usually used for tensile, shear and seismic reinforcement of structural parts. Generally, 12k carbon fiber yarn is used for production. With the continuous development of the carbon fiber industry, carbon fiber cloth is used in more and more companies and industries.

3. Carbon fiber prepreg: The carbon fiber yarn, epoxy resin, release paper and other carbon fibers are processed into carbon fiber prepreg after coating, hot pressing, cooling, laminating, and coiling. Carbon fiber prepreg is usually used to make carbon fiber products, so there are many application cases in military and civilian fields.

4. Chopped carbon fiber: Chopped carbon fiber is made by cutting carbon fiber filaments. Its mechanical properties mainly depend on the properties of carbon fiber filaments. Short fibers have the advantages of uniform dispersion, diverse feeding methods, and simple processes. They can be applied Special fields where carbon fiber filaments are not suitable.