Hi,

A small company who produce motorcycle helmets is starting to make carbon fiber shells, but their problem is the alignement of the weaves. They want to do something like the image attached, but when the ballon is is inserted in the mould and inflated, it causes the distortion of the weaves. They asked me how could solve the problem...i´ve seen some videos of helmet fabrication, but it doesn´t show much. Someone knows how to fix the carbon in place with the weaves aligned, preventing distortion?

Many Thanks,
Pedro

Hi Pedro,

I imagine they would have used a spray tack or similar product to hold the  surface layer of weave in position so that it does not move during the moulding process.  They would probably be using something like our  FusionFix GP Spray Adhesive to hold it in place.  You only need a light dusting of the adhesive for it to hold the fabric in place.


Warren Penalver
Easy Composites / Carbon Mods - Technical Support Assistant

For a production volume of something like Motorcycle helmets, I would not even consider anything but Pre-Preg .. Which would mean no problems with weave placement inside the mould.  To make a helmet that has proper safety properties, and take advantage of a CF construction to remove weight from the shell, you will need precise control of weave orientation and differentiated thickness of the shell itself.


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Many thanks for your comments.

I think that spray tack maybe the solution, Warren
All the videos that i saw the carbon was hand layed up, not prepreg. However when the problem was put to me, my first thought was prepreg.

Regards,
Pedro