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Carbon Fibre Melbourne

Quietly, Australia is making important inroads into the worldwide carbon fibre industry. Without much fanfare, industry heads, engineers and acadamics are positioning the country to become a leader in this widely applicable technology.

Author: Hira

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From bicycles to cars and everything in between, products made from carbon fibre in Australia are being marketed to consumers everywhere. As any gadget-crazy consumer will know, some carbon fibre products out on the market border on silliness, such as carbon fiber bathtubs, ping pong rackets and letter openers. While most consumers are enamored with the sexy-looking finish and high-tech image of carbon fibre, this material does offer significant weight savings while being as strong as steel. This is why carbon fiber attracted designers and engineers in the first place. More than likely, it is the cutting-edge and high-tech nature of carbon fibre use in aerospace and motorsports that fostered this image in consumers’ minds.

As a maturing technology, it’s in Australia’s interest to position itself as a center for all things carbon fiber. Aiming to establish itself as a premier research and technology center is the Australian Carbon Fibre Research Facility (ACFRF), which is a multimillion dollar carbon fibre production facility that is supported by the Victorian Government and is based at the Waurn Ponds Campus at Deakin University. The ACFRF is the first facility in the world to offer open access to its facilities in order to attract international and local projects related to carbon fibre in Australia. This is a potentially significant undertaking because establishing a leadership position here will give the country an edge in a technology that is sure to be in greater demand in the aerospace and automotive industries.

For despite its success as a viable replacement for some structural materials and panels, some carbon fiber products still suffer from catastrophic failure which have caused injury to consumers. Examples of this can be found in the racing boat industries and in bicycle frames and components. A lot of these failures would have been prevented if enough research and testing were done before such products were put to market. Unfortunately, economic pressures very often take precedence to safety.

Another area of research that will benefit manufacturers and consumers alike is finding ways and means to cheaply produce carbon fibre in Australia. At present, raw material and production expertise, plus its viably marketable image, combine to make carbon fiber products prohibitively expensive.

But by their own initiative and technical expertise, Aussie companies working with this material have already made inroads in various industry. In the automotive sector, an Australian specialist manufacturer made a coup when it was selected by Mercedes-Benz to manufacture the lightweight C-Class structures made from carbon fibre in Australia. These structures have passed Mercedes-Benz’s exacting standards and it is a credit to the country as a whole that such a responsibility was entrusted to this Australian company. With the establishment of the ACFRF and the success of enticing Mercedes-Benz to subcontract a vital component in one of their car models, it looks like the manufacture of components made from this high-tech material is going to be a viable enterprise for the foreseeable future.

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