By AlanStubbs - 2/16/2014 7:26:05 PM
Hi,
I'm making a structure in roll-wrapped tubing and need to make 2 different joints.
The first is a 8mm tube forming a cross with a 22.2mm tube. I'm thinking to wrap carbon tape round/across a few times - is your plain weave 232g tape likely to be suitable here? How many layers can I lay up at one time - painting with resin as I go - is 4 or 5 okay or will I have problems? I see in the fishing pole repair video that you are using only 2 layers.
Would notching the 8mm tube to fit it closer to the 22mm one be a bad idea - would it completely destroy its strength? I'm not familiar with carbon fibre but imagine this might lead to cracks propagating or something bad.
The second joint is T-shaped - the top of the "T" being a 19mm CF tube and the stem of the "T" being a ~31mm aluminium tube that will be cross-drilled or notched to take the CF tube. I plan to wrap the joint for extra strength and rigidity. Here I was looking at the 2/2 Twill 3k 199g carbon fabric or the ProFinish equivalent. How flexible is this fabric - will it form a nice web/curve between the stem and top of the T - with a radius of curvature of a few inches maybe - or will it crease? Is it actually possible to go round a corner with it? Would I need some kind of former under the carbon fabric in order to get the heat compression tape to work properly? I'm assuming this bit is important! Would the carbon tape be better than fabric here?
I'm sorry these questions are a bit vague but I don't have a feel for CF yet and I'd like to get some advice in order to get my first experiment closer to success!
Many thanks,
Alan
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