Another disadvantage is the price of carbon fiber, it is very expensive. The material is very light and strong but you have to pay a big amount of money to be able to use it in your products. Once a carbon structure is dint or cracked you cannot fix it like you can fix a steel structure.
It's rare to see a car with carbon fiber because it's expensive! Ten years ago, carbon fiber cost $150 a pound. Now, the price is around $10 a pound [source: Zoltek]. When it is recycled, the recycled carbon fiber isn't as strong as it was before recycling.
Health and Safety Considerations
Carbon fiber dust is not toxic, however, it is a mild irritant to the skin, eyes, and lungs, much like fiberglass. We strongly recommend that you wear a dust mask to minimize any itching or irritation, especially when cutting or sanding in quantity.The best way is washing out a local skin by cold or hot water; pouring running water on with a help of soap. Another effective way is to make puffing by a strip of bundle tape or sticking tape. Itchy feeling on skins does usually not stay for long time. The stuck fiber will leave off skins in half a day.
It has a tensile strength of 1.8 million PSI. Generally you wouldn't want to use carbon fiber for eating purposes, but because of the high-quality of the carbon fiber used, it can be heated over 400 degrees. You can totally use these to eat with, stick them in the dishwasher, and have no problems whatsoever.
As most Carbon Fibers have high elastic modulus and are very fine in nature, micro fiber is occasionally allergic to human skins or mucous membranes causing pain or itch.
Health effects of carbon fibre exposure
The principal health hazards of carbon fibre handling are due to mechanical irritation and abrasion similar to that of glass fibres. These micro fibres if uncontrolled have a potential to stick into human skin or the mucous membranes causing irritation.Respiratory Irritation
Breathing highly concentrated epoxy vapor can irritate the respiratory system and cause sensitization. Serious health problems can result from sanding epoxy before it is fully cured. When you inhale these dust particles, they become trapped in the mucous lining of your respiratory system.Luckily, the lungs have another function - they have defense mechanisms that protects them by removing dust particles from the respiratory system. On the other hand, even though the lungs can clear themselves, excessive inhalation of dust may result in disease.
Ways to clear the lungs
- Steam therapy. Steam therapy, or steam inhalation, involves inhaling water vapor to open the airways and help the lungs drain mucus.
- Controlled coughing.
- Drain mucus from the lungs.
- Exercise.
- Green tea.
- Anti-inflammatory foods.
- Chest percussion.
water helps to flush out toxins from the body and cleanses the lungs in a natural way plus your body needs fluid in the blood. so that it can flow in and out of the lungs for oxygenation. it's recommended to drink up to six to eight glasses of water every single day.
And living in it are microscopic bugs that multiply fast and can make you sick: dust mites. Also lurking in that dust, according to a recent study by George Washington University, are more than 45 toxic chemicals linked to respiratory, behavioral and neuro-development problems.
Ways to clear the lungs
- Steam therapy. Steam therapy, or steam inhalation, involves inhaling water vapor to open the airways and help the lungs drain mucus.
- Controlled coughing.
- Drain mucus from the lungs.
- Exercise.
- Green tea.
- Anti-inflammatory foods.
- Chest percussion.
A new study shows that the lungs have a self-cleaning mechanism that ensures the free flow of mucus. Researchers at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill found a brush-like layer in the lungs that pushes out sticky mucus and other harmful substances.
The current International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) evaluation is that, "Carbon black is possibly carcinogenic to humans (Group 2B)". Short-term exposure to high concentrations of carbon black dust may produce discomfort to the upper respiratory tract, through mechanical irritation.
They can also irritate eyes, throat and skin. Human health effects of dust relate mainly to the size of dust particles. Dust may contain microscopic solids or liquid droplets that are small enough to get deep into the lungs and cause serious health problems. Large particles may irritate the nose, throat and eyes.
Currently there is no hard evidence that dust causes asthma, however breathing in high concentrations of dust over many years is thought to reduce lung function in the long term and contribute to disorders like chronic bronchitis and heart and lung disorders.
Flammability: Though Carbon Fiber is constituted of carbon which is flammable, the fiber itself dose not flare up even if ignited by flame of match or gas burners. If heated up higher than 400 degree C together with some fuel, the fiber slowly burns (oxidized) but stops burning right after the burning fuel is removed.
Carbon fibre composites get their strength from long, precisely aligned carbon fibres, fixed within a glue-like polymer that is cured at high temperatures and pressures. Once cured, most of these tough polymers will not melt and have to be burned off or chemically dissolved to reclaim the valuable fibres.
As a comparison, steel has a tensile modulus of about 29 million psi (200 million kPa). Thus, the strongest carbon fibers are ten times stronger than steel and eight times that of aluminum, not to mention much lighter than both materials, 5 and 1.5 times respectively.
As Carbon Fibers are very fine in nature and moreover easily breakable by stretching (by less than 2% elongation), the fibers can easily be made fuzz. As Carbon Fibers are solid-structured carbon and consequently are hard to be burned.
In 1958, Roger Bacon created high-performance carbon fibers at the Union Carbide Parma Technical Center located outside of Cleveland, Ohio. Those fibers were manufactured by heating strands of rayon until they carbonized.
The process for making carbon fibers is part chemical and part mechanical. The precursor is drawn into long strands or fibers and then heated to a very high temperature without allowing it to come in contact with oxygen. Without oxygen, the fiber cannot burn.
Flammability: Though Carbon Fiber is constituted of carbon which is flammable, the fiber itself dose not flare up even if ignited by flame of match or gas burners. If heated up higher than 400 degree C together with some fuel, the fiber slowly burns (oxidized) but stops burning right after the burning fuel is removed.
It's true that carbon fiber is not itself a plastic. It's an incredibly small diameter fiber (or filament) made mostly of carbon atoms. So it's not surprising that carbon fiber is stiff, strong and light, plus resistant to chemicals and tolerant of high temperatures.
The modulus of carbon fiber is typically 33 msi (228 GPa) and its ultimate tensile strength is typically 500 ksi (3.5 Gpa). High stiffness and strength carbon fiber materials are also available through specialized heat treatment processes with much higher values.
Carbon fiber is an environmentally friendly material. Carbon fiber is manufactured by refining oil to obtain acrylonitrile and then spinning this acrylonitrile and baking the spun yarn. Due to the high baking temperature of 1000℃ or more, 20 tons of CO2 are emitted to manufacture 1 ton of carbon fiber.
Protection of eyes and throat from carbon fibre dust is paramount. Carbon fibres are electrically conductive and dust or waste can cause short-circuits within electrical equipment.
Inhalation Toxicity: Graphite alone may cause irritation of the respiratory tract but is not listed as a carcinogen. However, it may contain impurities of crystalline silica which is listed as a carcinogen. Inhalation of dust over prolonged periods of time may cause pneumoconiosis.
Are carbon nanotubes the next asbestos? A study published last week in Particle and Fibre Toxicology has found that carbon nanotubes can induce cancer in rats, in a similar way to asbestos.
Respiratory Irritation
Breathing highly concentrated epoxy vapor can irritate the respiratory system and cause sensitization. Never breathe the sanding dust of partially cured epoxy. Epoxy chemicals remain reactive until they have cured. Serious health problems can result from sanding epoxy before it is fully cured.Never try to "rubbing off". As a string of Carbon Fiber is just like a metal fine wire or pin, the dust penetrates into the skins more deeply causing the secondary inflammations. The best way is washing out a local skin by cold or hot water; pouring running water on with a help of soap.
Carbon fibers are highly preferred for the manufacture of sports equipment like sports sticks and rackets, primarily due to their advanced properties such as light weight, high strength to weight ratio, improved resistance, and stiffness.
Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (American English), Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (Commonwealth English), or carbon fiber reinforced plastic, or carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRP, CRP, CFRTP, or often simply carbon fiber, carbon composite, or even carbon), is an extremely strong and light fiber-reinforced
