Larry Joffe writes (in part):
<<<Carbon fiber is one of the strongest materials made, why do you think it
would shatter? It is a woven fabric, how is it going to shatter?>>>
Carbon fiber (actually composite) is very similar to fiberglass. The big
differences are the base materials and using an autoclave to cure it. A
single sheet of carbon fiber is very similar to a fiberglass mat. Yes,
carbon fiber shatters. Take a look at what happens in F1 when the cars make
even the slightest contact. There are carbon fiber shards all over the
place.
The strength of the carbon fiber is directly related to it's thickness. But
the thicker it is the more weight it has. The tub on an F1 car is very
thick, but carbon fiber racing seats are not. They will shatter given the
wrong forces acting upon them, e.g. vertical forces. It is probably a bit
better than fiberglass in the horizontal direction but I'm sure it is only a
matter of degree. Given enough force it will shatter in that direction too.
<<<If aluminum is so much stronger than Carbon Fiber then why
are the suspension pieces made from carbon fiber in F1?>>>
The main reason is weight. As an example, according to this month's R&T, the
Jaguar F1 car has carbon fiber unequal length A-arms in the front and the
rear is "a multilink affair with carbon fiber A-arms over steel lower
control arms, these likely to be converted to carbon fiber in time." Why
aren't the rear lower control arms made of carbon fiber yet? I would venture
a guess that it is not strong enough for the weight yet. But they are
working on it. I also bet they will have more wheel assembly separations as
a result.
But I do agree that NASCAR is too restrictive. A lot of people have been
trying to get crash recorders installed but they are paranoid it will
somehow be used to cheat and they don't have any way to determine if that's
the case. LMAO!
Paul Foster
BTW, I noticed a lot of loose wheels in F1 last year. Did they do away with
the tethers?
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