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Crushing Carbon Fiber with a Hydraulic Press Can Be Dangerous. For the Press

For most of us, carbon fiber nearly has a cult-like status. We don't really know what it is or how it's made, but we know it's good and expensive and that we should want it.
Carbon fiber vs. hydraulic press 6 photos
Photo: Screenshot from YouTube
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We've also been told it's very light and extremely durable, a few times more so than steel, so naturally, it has found a lot of uses in the carmaking industry - not to mention the tuning one. But because it's so costly to make it, it has spawned some more affordable variables like the CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced plastic) which preserve most of the carbon fiber's properties but at a fraction of its price.

What we have here, though, is pure carbon fiber. The author of the video tells us the pieces were made in Poland by a company called G Composites, but it shouldn't really matter: carbon fiber is carbon fiber anywhere in the world.

There are four pieces of carbon fiber available for testing: two rather narrow tubes, one that's considerably wider and shorter (apparently, it's a segment of a driveshaft) and a sandwich of 12 (that's how many I could count) layers of carbon fiber plates. Alright, this should be interesting.

Don't be put off by the start of the video. The first tube is placed lying on its side, so it gets crushed with ease. A cylinder's strength is on its longitudinal axis, so testing it any other way is absolutely pointless. Still, we do get the chance to see the elasticity of the material as it bounces halfway back to its original shape.

The next two tubes are tested correctly, but the way they break takes the press operator by surprise. It shouldn't, really, as carbon fiber isn't a solid material, but it's made out of thin threads weaved together. When enough pressure is applied (and the press does provide plenty), the threads lose their bonding and come apart.

Finally, it's time for the layer cake. This is where things get interesting and the heavy equipment huffs and puffs but doesn't manage to break through the stacked plates. Desperate to get a result, the press operator tries everything he can, but in the end, he has to call it quits. All he managed to do was embed a nut into the first few layers of carbon fiber, but at the other end, everything seems intact. Here's the video below, and make sure you stick to the end because - as if the way he says "carpon fiber" wasn't hilarious enough - there's some comedy gold to be had there.

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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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