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Re: [Tigers] non-Tiger/Carbon Fiber

To: Thomas Witt <atwittsend@verizon.net>
Subject: Re: [Tigers] non-Tiger/Carbon Fiber
From: drmayf <drmayf@mayfco.com>
Date: Tue, 07 Apr 2009 17:10:23 -0700
Science fair stuff. I have two boys and when they participated in the 
Science Fairs in Madison, Alabama (Blue Ribbon Presidential School no 
less, although a public one). My eldest was determined to find out about 
the nature of biological junk in the home in the form of bacteria and 
fungus. I had the capability to get lots of culture dishes for him and  
he set about placing those suckers all over the house. After exposure 
they were closed and left to grow. Each was labeled as to its location 
in  the house and the exposure time.  We had an old dog  that lived in 
theh wash room at night and that got one also. When it was time for the 
cultures to be read, I had the lab take a look at them and give him the 
results. Man was he red faced. Of all the places in our house, his room 
was the worst! By far, lol. Never the less he placed the results on the 
story board and off to the science fair he went. Won a 1st place prize 
and a special commendation by the local medical experts.   My second 
son, when it was his turn, decided to test a computer related issue. 
That of magnetic destruction of data on floppy disks.  He used both the 
old 5.25" and   newer 3.5 inch ones.  He recorded data on both disks and 
together we fabbed up a  tool to hold a rare earth magnet. It  was made 
such that the magnet could be brought closer and closer to the disk. At 
each distance increment, he would remove the disk and read it in the 
computer. Now folks a rare earth samarium cobalt magnet is one of the 
strongest magnets on the planet and the one we had was big. That magnet 
had to be literally placed right on the disk before any data degradation 
was noticed. He presented his data and likewise won a 1st place honor.  
Fun stuff...

Now as to carbon fiber.... interesting stuff. Most CF parts can be made 
from what they call prepreg or stuff that has the resin already on it, 
awaiting only the heating process to cure it.  Thats how airplane wings, 
etc,  are made. Prepreg is layed down, vacuum bagged and heat cured. 
When heated, CF does a strange thing, it shrinks or grows smaller. 
Sometimes getting the stuff loose from forms and mandrels can be a chore 
because of this. And since it is carbon, it is electrically conductive, 
a feature you must consider if building something that may operate 
around or in proximity to electricals.   I am interested in how testing 
of the panels made for the science project were conducted. The rig for 
pulling and testing the loads or deflections, etc. And since the one 
panel was under strain during layup is suspect it had that strain built 
in with the resin. So in order to achieve more strain than it was fabbed 
under you have to pull more. Like a bolt in tension. If you torque it 
then in order for it to display any additionl stress you have to pull 
more than the pretension put into it by the torque.


If any of that made sense, lol..  if not, I'll try agian

mayf
Thomas Witt wrote:

> Actually this is more "car" related than you think.  I too have 
> considered the same theory and, might I add, with considerations to my 
> Tiger. I would tend to go the way of Theo that the saturation of the 
> loose fibers gave better bonding.  Sort like the difference between 
> setting bricks with a standard joint verse a 1/16" joint.
>
> Oh, and yes, been there done that.  My son was in Science Fairs from 
> the 5th grade. Each year he placed at the County level and received 
> special awards. Except 7th grade, he only got one special award, and 
> did not place. Rather disappointed he persevered.  In 8th grade, he 
> won 1st at the County and received three special awards. Advancing to 
> the State finals he won 1st place in the Aerodynamic/Hydrodynamic 
> category!
> All this starts in the kids originating school. The irony is that year 
> in our little home school group there were only two contestants at his 
> grade level. My son placed 2nd, or effectively last, - then won 1st at 
> the State. :-)  All the best in the adventure.  It was always as 
> exciting as it was trying.
> Tom
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