Lightweight Plain Roll Wrapped Carbon Fiber Tube Corrosion Resistant

Corrosion Resistance Lightweight Plain Finish Roll Wrapped Carbon Fibre Tubes

Plain Finish Carbon Fibre Tubes Description:

Carbon fibre tubes can be used to replace or substitute aluminium or steel tubes in a wide range of projects. Their superior mechanical properties mean that tubes of the same weight as an aluminium or steel tube can be much stronger, or that tubes of the same strength can be much lighter.

This tube is manufactured predominantly using high modulus (T700) unidirectional prepreg carbon fibre oriented to provide maximum strength in the lateral (length-ways) axis but the use of prepreg reinforcement oriented at 90° also ensures that the tube has good crush-strength; ideal for real-world applications.

The use of unidirectional fibres and maximum strength in the lateral axis does mean that the tube is not strong across its diameter as it is along its length so should be used in such a way as to avoid unnecessary crushing forces across the tube.

Further Information

Roll Wrapping

The phrase "roll wrapped" refers to the process used to manufacture these tubes. The prepreg carbon fibre is first laid up around a mandrel in multiple layers. Once the reinforcement is in place it is spiral-wrapped with heat-shrink tape (this is what gives roll-wrapped tubes their characteristic ribbed appearance) before the whole assembly is oven cured.

Roll wrapped carbon fibre tubes offer superior strength in general use to "pultruded" tubes (which have all their fibres running in exactly the same direction). This is because forces on a tube are rarely exclusively in straight compression or tension, whereby the unidirectional fibres of a pultruded tube are not ideal.

How to Cut and Shape

This carbon fibre tube can easily be cut and finished using simple workshop tools like a hacksaw and some wet-and-dry paper. Cutting and finishing a carbon fibre tube can also be perfectly safe if you follow some basic safety precautions.

For a comprehensive guide to both safety advice and cutting and finishing techniques watch our video guide to cutting and shaping carbon fibre sheet and carbon fibre parts.

Mechanical Properties & Specification

Our roll wrapped carbon fibre tubes are manufactured from special high-modulus carbon fibre oriented at 0° (down the length of the tube). Crush/burst strength is provided by unidirectional E-Glass oriented at 90° (around the section of the tube).

Layup schedule

[0, 90, 0, 90, 0]

0° layers are 300gsm Toray T700
90° layers are 300gsm E-Glass ~UD (80/20)

Specifications:

Carbon Fibre Products

1. 3K Roll Wrapped Carbon Fibre Tube

The tubes in this category are roll-wrapped pre-preg reinforcement. Roll wrapped tubes feature multi-axial orientation of the carbon fibres which gives them more uniformly distributed strength ideally suited to more demanding 'real world' applications where load and forces are rarely in only one direction. Typical uses include mast poles, spinnakers, booms, structural racking, and many other medium to heavy-duty applications.

We stock Carbon Fibre tubes manufactured using 3k plain weave style of Carbon Fibre Cloth Fabric. Plain weave carbon fibre fabric is the 2nd most commonly used type of carbon cloth. Instead of having the distinctive diagonal pattern of 2/2 twill, plain weave is woven over-one-under-one leaving it with a simple grid pattern appearance.

Roll-wrapped tubes feature a slight rib texture spiralling along their length where shrink-tape has been used in the manufacturing process. If needs be, this can easily be sanded and polished away.

Carbon fibre tubes are a rigid carbon fibre product. They cannot be bent or reshaped in any way.

2. Pultruded Carbon Fibre Tube

Pultrusion is the name given to the continuous process of manufacturing composite materials and generally produces sections including tube, rod, box, and angle with the unidirectional alignment of the fibres.

Because they are pultruded, the carbon fibre tubes in this section have unidirectional fibre alignment which gives them the maximum possible strength along their length but leaves them less strong in other planes meaning that particular care needs to be taken to how they are fixed to reduce crush forces and spread any load as evenly as possible.

3. Pultruded Carbon Fibre Rod

Useful in a wide range of projects, these solid carbon fibre rods are manufactured using unidirectional carbon fibres, pultruded to create perfectly straight rods of high structural performance in a range of diameters.

Carbon fibre rods are used as pull/push rods in robotics and mechanization applications, fuselage spars in R/C boats, planes and UAV projects, sports equipment and kites.

4. Pultruded Carbon Fibre Strip

Useful in a wide range of projects, these solid carbon fibre strips are manufactured using unidirectional carbon fibres, pultruded to create perfectly straight strips of high structural performance in a range of diameters.

Carbon fibre strips are used as pull/push rods in robotics and mechanization applications, fuselage spars in R/C boats, planes and UAV projects, sports equipment, and kites.

5. Carbon Fibre Sheet

Carbon fibre sheet is sheet material, reinforced either in part or in full by carbon fibre. It can be used in a wide range of applications including engineering, architecture, marine, aerospace and motorsport.

Rigid sheet is flat and cannot re-shaped or re-formed to follow any other shape.

We stock one type of carbon fibre sheet: pre-preg manufactured using 3k plain weave style of Carbon Fibre Cloth Fabric. Pre-preg carbon fibre sheet has a perfectly flat gloss finish on both sides, is very strong owing to its perfect ratio of reinforcement to matrix and pressure consolidation during curing, and is manufactured to engineering tolerances.

An alternative type of carbon fibre sheet is wet-lay (We do not stock this product). The Wet-lay sheet has a high gloss finish on one side, with an uneven surface on the reverse. It is stronger than fibreglass sheet (owing to its carbon fibre reinforcement) but not as strong as pre-preg.