ORIGINAL: KevinR100
darrin, great thread...
Just a question - I thought that carbon fiber's shear strength was relatively weak but the tensile strength was exceptionally high. Most people's layups tend to be towards using carbon fiber in such a way as to hopefully increase shear strength. Carbon fiber in a composite layup should utilise both aspects of the material. I would appreciate your comments.
kevin
Edit: We are using glass construction for seaplanes & racing boats (models).
Yes, carbon, like any material, has its strengths and weakness. The big trap that everyones seems to go through, (myself included) is to use one type of material for everything. That thinking usually ends in disaster, either structurally or in heavyness to aquire the structural requirements.
I have found that I use a wide range of materials in everything I do. I had to laugh since I had 6 different types of materials within a one foot area on one project. But that is the joy of using composites since we can custom any structure to any properties we desire. It just takes some experimenting and really understanding the materials.
I still follow Burts Rutans method, which is that you don't know what you got til you break it. Then you have learned something!
So as always, experimentation is the key!