Forged Carbon Fiber (1 Viewer)

[The Counterfeiter]

Stumbled across this at Car and Driver and PGATour.com. Since we are getting no news from racing teams, I thought it could be interesting to discuss how this might relate to our sport.
It appears the new process may yield parts that are lighter and stronger than conventional "laid" and autoclaved carbon fiber. I can't find any definitive information yet. You obviously aren't going to make a F/C body this way because the cost of the mold would be astronomical.
Certainly lacks the visual beauty of present parts - in a photo I saw of a Lamborghini prototype chassis, it's ugly - My first thought for drag racing would be a one piece driver protection tub for T/F and F/C.
Food for thought . . . and a link to the collaboration between Callaway Golf and Lamborghini -

Paris 2010: Lamborghini and Callaway Golf Partner On Carbon-Fiber Research, Create “Forged Composite” - Car and Driver Blog

 

[JL]

Good link Jim. It may not be more expensive according to this statement... "The result is cheaper carbon-fiber-reinforced materials that can be made in less time. And, since the arrangement of the fibers is random, the resulting material strength is omnidirectional; old-school carbon fiber is usually formed to be strong in just one direction."

 

[big guy]

Intereting read. Thanks for the link. where this will go? only time and money will tell.

 

[Pinocchio]

The "cheaper" part comes for the amortization of the tooling over tens of thousands of (golf club) pieces. I really can't think of any pieces on drag cars that could generate the volume. But then I'm just an old fiberglass guy!

 

[Jeff]

Carbon Fiber Guru : Oregon’s Carbon Fiber Football Helmets

Nope, I think those Oregon helmets are faux carbon fiber . . . they do look good though.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

The "cheaper" part comes for the amortization of the tooling over tens of thousands of (golf club) pieces. I really can't think of any pieces on drag cars that could generate the volume. But then I'm just an old fiberglass guy!

Here's a link to the article w/photo of the Lamborghini "Sesto" concept car. If the entire monocoque chassis is one piece, that would be a pretty expensive mold. However, with advanced CMM techniques, it would be relatively easy to CNC machine mold parts from a prototype. I don't have any idea either how this might apply to drag racing parts, but it's certainly fascinating technology!

What is Forged Composite: A New Way of Using Carbon Fiber | Carbon Fiber Gear

 

[Draw 3D]

What they are calling "Forged" sounds almost like High Pressure Forming.

The "real" forging process aligns and compresses the grain structure, opposite of what they are calling "forging".

 

[jackass]

What they are calling "Forged" sounds almost like High Pressure Forming.

The "real" forging process aligns and compresses the grain structure, opposite of what they are calling "forging".

same thing i was thinking... lots of carbon fiber injection molded parts in the r/c industry.....

 

[Jeff]

Agreed, I vote for Extruded Carbon Fiber

 

[vegasnitro]

"Forged" carbon fiber is not new ... several F1 teams have highly secret and proprietary processes for "forging" carbon. VERY expensive too. In the last few seasons, Ferrari's gearbox housing and transaxles and differentials have been made of carbon. Other teams tried to duplicate the parts in carbon (saves a lot of weight) and they kept having failures. It was determined that Ferrari were forging the parts rather than the standard weave and bake which prevented the failures the other teams were seeing.

Boeing has been the real spearhead of this more public project, looking for aerospace applications for the process, the Germans jumped in with Lamborghini to offset R+D costs as they are looking to make Lamborghinis more energy efficient without going the electric or alternative fuels route. They determined if they cut 1,000 pounds off the car, they could get the EPA milage over 20mpg, maybe even north of 25. Callaway is another big brand coming to help amoritize the costs. In any event, cool things are coming down the line on all fronts from this project.

 

[Draw 3D]

taking a toothpaste-like mixture of carbon fibers and epoxy and forming parts in a mold with over six tons of pressure.

is not a "Forge", no matter how many times it is misquoted.

a : to form (as metal) by heating and hammering
b : to form (metal) by a mechanical or hydraulic press with or without heat

IS the definition of forge.

 

[The Counterfeiter]

is not a "Forge", no matter how many times it is misquoted.

IS the definition of forge.

OK Paul, it will henceforth be referred to as "Forged" Carbon Fiber -
Don't know who coined the term (Callaway's marketing department?),
but if Ferrari can use carbon fiber toothpaste to make a gearbox that works in F1, it's pretty damn cool technology!

And Chris . . . thanks for that additional information. I know times are tough for NHRA teams and Ferrari's budget could probably fund every NHRA pro team (with a few million left over for the prize fund!), but I feel something could come out of this to enhance driver safety.

 

[Draw 3D]

OK Paul, it will henceforth be referred to as "Forged" Carbon Fiber -
Don't know who coined the term (Callaway's marketing department?),
but if Ferrari can use carbon fiber toothpaste to make a gearbox that works in F1, it's pretty damn cool technology!

You're probably right about the naming, it sounds like a "sales" name.

As much as I disagree with how they have named it, it is very cool technology and it is probably just the beginning, I see CF heads and block coming soon!