Originally Posted by
ClydeClydeson
Carbon still scares me as a very big rider who enjoys being careless with my equipment.
And I wonder how does the epoxy hold up to freeze-thaw cycles?
It shouldn't. Aircraft see temperature swings of 150 degrees Farenheit or more nearly every flight. It is, afterall 40 or 50 below zero at 35,000 feet & can easily 100+ everywhere from LAX or Phoenix to Cairo or Riyadh...And aircraft carry hundreds of lives at a time for decades of service life.
Composites make up significant portions of modern aircraft. Entire wings, fusalages, skin, underlying structure, secondary structure. The question: "What part is not composite?" is becoming increasingly relevant.
One of the many reasons for composites in aircraft is temperature stability. Expansion/contraction with temperature change is minimal at best & a very tiny fraction of aluminum. The result is a reduction of fatigue stress & related issues. Better service life in spite of manufacturing execution of design plans. As well as better manufacturing execution to higher standards.
(I worked in aircraft manufacturing for 13 years, much of it on composite structures.)