What are the specific uses of carbon fiber?

Carbon fiber boasts advantages such as being lightweight, high-strength, high-modulus, high-temperature resistant, impact resistant, chemically corrosion resistant, and having a low coefficient of thermal expansion. However, its drawbacks include low fracture elongation and low toughness. Therefore, carbon fiber has limited use on its own and is primarily used as a reinforcing fiber in composite materials, such as reinforced plastics, reinforced cement, reinforced ceramics, reinforced metals, and carbon/carbon composites.

In the aviation field, replacing some of the aluminum alloy in aircraft with carbon fiber composites can reduce the weight of the aircraft body by 15% to 40%. It is estimated that a 450g reduction in the weight of a jet airliner can save approximately $1000 over the aircraft's lifespan. The climate conditions in outer space are unpredictable, with temperatures reaching above 100°C under direct sunlight and dropping to below -200°C in shaded areas. This requires aircraft to withstand extreme temperature variations. Carbon fiber composites, with their appropriately designed near-zero coefficient of thermal expansion, are used in aerospace applications such as reflector antennas, solar cell frames, and parabolic devices on geostationary communication satellites, demonstrating not only high strength and modulus but also dimensional stability. Carbon fiber composites possess suitable ablation resistance. When a spacecraft re-enters the atmosphere at a speed of 8 km/s, the surface temperature reaches 3000°C, yet only a small portion of the carbon fiber composite surface is ablated, dissipating heat and protecting the spacecraft's interior from damage.

In the transportation sector, the application of carbon fiber is continuously expanding. 20% to 60% of automotive components, such as drive shafts, springs, wheel hubs, casings, bumpers, and control levers, can be manufactured using carbon fiber reinforced plastics, reducing vehicle weight by 70%, saving significant amounts of gasoline, and reducing fuel costs by over 35%. Reducing vehicle weight effectively improves the performance of vehicles, such as reducing noise, increasing speed, reducing pollution, and lowering energy consumption.

In the construction field, the application of carbon fiber reinforced cement materials has made remarkable progress in recent years. Adding approximately 4% carbon fiber to cement can increase its toughness by 30% to 50%, double its fracture strength, reduce cracking, and improve corrosion resistance. Carbon fiber reinforced cement can also be used in bridges, chimneys, roofs, floor panels, various pipes, and rods.

In sporting goods, carbon fiber accounts for approximately 50% of global carbon fiber consumption. Currently, carbon fiber composite materials are used in golf clubs, fishing rods, tennis and badminton rackets, skis, bows, water skis, masts, high jump poles, racing cars, racing boats, and models. The use of carbon fiber composite materials is substantial in this field.

In the textile industry, carbon fiber composite materials are also used in the weft insertion mechanisms, weft insertion heads of weaving machines, heald frames of high-speed looms, high-speed rotating parts in textile machinery, and shuttles. In other areas, such as chemicals, energy, textiles, biology, electronics, medical care, and upholstery or decorative materials, the applications of carbon fiber are increasingly diverse, with its development showing a rapid spread akin to a "black revolution".