1. Description for Carbon Fiber Tube

Our composite tubing, and in particularly our carbon fibre tubes, have significant advantages over most materials in terms of mechanical properties. The table opposite shows comparisons with other common materials.

As can be seen, carbon fibre has excellent strength and low density. If these two factors are considered together, therefore looking at ‘specific strength’, then the benefits of carbon fibre look even more impressive. This is highlighted in the graph opposite.

 2.Production process

When the laminate has been designed and verified by our engineers the individual patterns are fed to our 5 metre long CNC cutting table which cuts out each pattern precisely. The materials we use are cloths which already have the resin matrix impregnated in to them, known as pre-pregs.

Next, these prepreg layers are wrapped around the male tooling (mandrels) which determine the Inside Diameter (ID) of the tube. These patterns are wrapped in an exact sequence on our machine driven rolling table to ensure consistency and accuracy of the lay-up.

The tubes are then subjected to a high temperature curing cycle under pressure in our electronically controlled ovens and finally removed from the tooling using a hydraulically powered puller mechanism.

Once complete, the raw blank is then ready to be machined and finished in line with the design specification.

The process of carbon fiber tube

3. Features for Carbon Fiber Tube 

With over 60 years of collective marine experience we have a significant insight to this industry. This, coupled with our vast knowledge of composites, is invaluable given the diverse nature of composite marine applications.

We produce tubing for all types of marine applications, from small dinghy tiller extensions, paddle shafts, and spars up to one-off tubing for large yacht masts.

The flexibility of our manufacturing process is one of our distinctive qualities in this area:

• Able to make tapered tubing which is ideally suited for mast applications.

• We can make oval tubing often sought after for masts or booms requiring differential properties in different axes.

• Tubes are made with epoxy resin systems which have virtually zero water absorption making them more suitable for marine based use than lower quality tubing made with vinylester or polyester resin systems.

• We have in-house paint facilities and are able to finish tubes with UV stable paint systems, protecting the tubing against inevitable long exposure to the elements.

4. Photos for Carbon Fiber Tube :