carbon fiber/350F operating rod/tube

[aroundhere]

I dont have much experience with carbon fiber. I need to find carbon fiber approx 1.5 od x 1.1 id x3" lg that will keep a strong compressive strength as the operating temp rises to and stays at approx 350F for a few hours. From researching, the epoxy used when the rod is wrapped is what determines the temp rating. So my question is..... Does anyone here know of if a high temp carbon fiber is available in finished rod or tube or will I have to get someone to make this for me? I need a composite type material with a high high compressive strength due to the application. Anyway, If anyone can point me in the direction of a company that may have what im looking for, it would be appreciated.

 

[Compositepro]

It sounds like you may be working on a packer plug or something similar. Parts or shapes made from high temperature composites are not off-the-shelf items but are made to order and made to meet specific requirements. 350F is usually too high for epoxy when high strength is also required. Bismaleimide resins are used at this temperature. General Plastics in Houston and ICE in Washington state,

http://www.innovativecomposite.com/ice7_services_man.asp,

are two companies that make the type of parts you are looking for.

 

[RPstress]

You might get a little bit of performance out of an epoxy tooling material, but not much, as Compositepro says, and the laminate would not be at all tough. Ordinary epoxy will not be at all suitable.

Even with a BMI the ETW compression strength at 350°C/180°C will probably be half the RT dry values. BMI is quite pricey. A 180°C-curing phenolic resin would be a lot cheaper and would probably be almost as good as BMI in terms of strength retention, but the laminate would be less strong to start with.

At 350°F/180°C compressive strength for an undamaged carbon/BMI quasi-isotropic laminate will be about 45 ksi/300 MPa. A more sensible value for preliminary design is 17 ksi/115 MPa to allow for a bit of damage tolerance.

 

[aroundhere]

thanks for the input guys. I had actually already contacted GP in Houston, I was just waiting for a reply. The do alot of HT fiberglass work for us. Weve always worked with alot of peek and torlon. I was just looking at carbon filled peek. I need a min of approx 50ksi at 350F of compressive strength. There just isnt much to choose from until you get up to the Cfibers. thanks guys

 

[RPstress]

PEEK. PEK, PEKEKK, etc., all have a Tg of 160°C or so (143 for PEEK 162 for PEKEKK). You can go above Tg with them the way that would be pretty dodgy in a thermoset, but 180°C might be pushing it. Victrex claim 260°C is possible for PEEK in some circumstances. They list 30% carbon short fiber PEKEKK compression strength as 200 MPa/29 ksi @ 200°C.