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Of all of the supplies utilized in bicycle frames and elements, carbon fiber is maybe probably the most generally misunderstood. Whereas it has a popularity for automated manufacturing devoid of human contact or soul, it’s truly much more labor-intensive materials than metals. Trendy modular monocoque frames, for instance, comprise a whole bunch of particular person items of carbon material, virtually all of that are laid by hand earlier than finally curing in a mould beneath intense warmth and stress.
It’s solely via such elaborate manufacturing processes that we’re capable of get a lot efficiency out of such extremely light-weight constructions. Nonetheless, that complexity additionally introduces better risk for human error, and regardless of most carbon-fiber frames and elements trying excellent on the floor, it’s widespread for these merchandise to be less-than-perfect beneath, even on brand-new gadgets contemporary from the manufacturing unit ground.
Voids and wrinkles are the most typical defects, and their severity can differ from merchandise to merchandise, as can their impression on a product’s energy and efficiency.
Most often, these defects have minimal (if any) real-world impression, with loads of structural redundancy to offset no matter structural deficiencies there is perhaps because of this. That’s not at all times true, nonetheless, and firms are continually striving to cut back — and even get rid of — the frequency of these defects from the manufacturing course of.
For this week’s CyclingTips podcast, U.S. technical editor James Huang invited two visitor panelists to lend some appreciable experience: Chris Meertens, senior composites engineer for brand spanking new U.S. bike producer HIA Velo; and Raoul Luescher of Luescher Teknik, a carbon fiber inspection and restore guru based mostly in Melbourne, Australia, with an extended background within the aerospace {industry}.
Luescher outlines a number of the manufacturing points he’s present in carbon fiber bicycle merchandise through the years, and Meertens discusses a number of the revolutionary processes HIA Velo has instituted to enhance the standard of its frames. In brief: issues are undoubtedly getting significantly better industry-wide, however they’re nonetheless not as excellent as many wish to consider.
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Episode 27 Direct Obtain
