Lightness is one of the significant characteristics that many people look for in a material.
If that same material displays strength and non-corrosive, then that should be the only option to consider.
That is exactly how carbon fiber works for automotive industry, aerospace, sporting goods, and many other applications.
This material proved to be an effective alternative to steel and aluminum since it is lighter than steel for about fifty to seventy percent, and fifteen to twenty percent lighter than aluminum.
Its stability and strength proved to be remarkable! Imagine a biker going on extra mile just to reach the top of the mountain.
A mountain bike that is partly built with this composite can easily help the biker reach his goal.
Or if you want to save on gas, a car built with carbon fiber matting is the answer.
Since automobiles with parts built with this material is lighter, it needs smaller engines.
The smaller the engine, the smaller is the gasoline consumption.
This is also the rationale behind aerospace engineering.
Yet, with great characteristics come its disadvantage.
Though the demands of using this composite grow ever more, mass-production is still limited for some reasons.
It is more complicated to produce since the need for its size, thickness and volume differ from one application to another.
Since these industries face the same problem regarding carbon fiber production, each of them produce their own tools for production processes.
Matting and resin are needed then glued together to form the desired finish product for certain applications.
It is in this regard that other industries and modern technology keep on developing more ways to produce this composite in mass form.
This year alone, the use of laser beam for production of fiber composite was put to initial test and proved successful.
Instead of using the usual matting, epoxy, tapes and hot air, multiple layers are being piled together, then laser to compress into a more compact structure.
In this process, the laser helps quickly emits energy onto the material, thus minimizing time and energy consumption.
This type of process also resulted better quality.
And due to its magnificent strength-to-lightweight ration, the composite successfully won the test.
With the introduction of laser beams, almost anything can be joined together.
Whether the materials are difficult to form, or even bulky, the use of infrared laser can do the magic of joining carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CRP) almost instantly.
This new development is already adapted by aviation, automobile, and civil engineering industries.
Some of the best results from this process are rocket tanks, load-bearing car structures, air plane fuselages, and boat hull components.
Tomorrow, we can definitely see more developments of the way this light material is being processed for more benefits.