Carbon fiber ic pipe

[magik95]

How good will carbon fiber ic pipe work. Been curious about this for a while and me and my bro were thinking of making some for mine and his cars.

Anyone attemped to make or had these before?

 

[agarc023]

Interesting idea. I would think that you would have to layer it on pretty thick to keep it from breaking from all the pressure.

 

[magik95]

Yea we were thinking about 4 layers of the 2x2. I believe that would most def stand up to 15 psi of boost.

 

[AK Maniak]

that would be sick, probably expensive as shit but cool none the less

 

[ArmyGSX]

Can I ask why? I'm sure the weight savings between aluminum and CF would be very minimal. Wondering if it would be a better insulator and keep the temps down after the IC.

 

[bomper04]

Hey guys, here's a link to a walk-through about making what you guys are talking about. Pretty labor intensive but looks pretty awesome. However I think you may encounter some issues as our cars are dealing with positive pressure (boost), judging by the technique that they use, this may not be the safest method. I'd be pretty worried about how strong those seams are..they're only bonded by resin. However maybe you can overlap the mold with another layer to add to it's structural integrity..


http://www.vaglinks.com/Docs/Misc/CarbonFiberHowTo2.pdf

 

[nuclearr]

Can it be done yes. However you will have a hard time making turns in the piping and will have to have vast knowledge of making molds. You will also have to vacume bag the parts to get the strength need to keep them from blowing apart. The molds for the inside of the pipe will be the hardest they will need to be smooth as glass.

 

[magik95]

Yes it is. We figured out all the cost. He made a short ram intake for his rsx a while back and it was pretty sick. Now that we have boosted his car we started looking into doing this since I nothing but time since im unemployed.

we wont start the trial and error unitll Febuary. We are going to make the molds in a few weeks.

My bro has made alot of molds for fiberglass parts in the past. I have been researching more on how to make molds for tubing.

I have seen that write up Bomper04 has posted. Yea that seems scarry to me also about the seams may blow apart. We were tring to brain storm on how to improve that to make it seamless.

 

[gixrman]

CF does'nt have to be thick to be effective at what its designed to do. Thats the whole point of CF, less weight, just as strong. The down side to CF is that it doesn't bend, well it flexs(not it tube form) and then shatters. Thats why you will see blends of carbon fiber and Kevlar, Kevlar is more impact resistant. People do make CF forced induction tubing, but it has its down sides. CF is a fabric and doesn't transfer heat well. High temp resin is needed and its not cheap. To fabricate a pipe section you need a representation of your part, then a mold of it, then make a tube and not F-up the weave. Its a lot of work for one piece when you can do it it aluminum for much cheaper and faster.

I make one off CF intake tubes, and its not an easy process. look under my screen name there should be pics.

 

[nuclearr]

Well good luck and take some pics.

 

[LiquidX]

IMHO just stick with the aluminum pipe. Sure it *could* look cool if done properly but how well would this actually hold up? You will need to pressure test each section and if there is one stress point then you would need to redo the whole pipe. Also note, how are you planning on having a smooth surface on the inside of the pipe?

 

[magik95]

Pretty challenging I know, but to see if could be done and be sucessful with I love challenges.
Aluminum would be wiser and cheaper yes. We want to do this as a prject and hopefully be succesful at it. The inner surface is going to be difficult.
What about some sort of inflatable bladder like that write up talks about?

 

[LiquidX]

I don't have experience with what you are doing but it seems like a good idea using an inflatable bladder of some sort. How would you be able to make the bends needed for the pipe while using a bladder? Would it need to be custom made?

 

[magik95]

I believe we would have t make the bladder yes. My bro has more experience with this than I so he would be the enginer in coming up with that sytem. Hes more of the brainiac when it comes to this. He is acutally working on that. He did something like that with his intake but was more straight forward than this since it wasnt a positive charge like mentioned before.

 

[gixrman]

I looked into inflatable bladders for the tubes I make and the struggle is air pockets and creases in the fabric around corners. I went thought alot of material figuring this shit out. I use foam cores and compress the fabric around it, then remove the foam(waste foam). A smooth inner surface can be achieved if the core, and fabric are compress correctly.

 

[magik95]

What type of foam? I was actually thinking about the foam swimming tubes.

 

[LiquidX]

Where is the the BOV going to be mounted at?

Not trying to dissuade your idea, but seeing if you thought all this out first.

 

[constant_proj21]

Where is the the BOV going to be mounted at?

Not trying to dissuade your idea, but seeing if you thought all this out first.

If you were to use say a Tial Q, you could just buy the weld on flange, and either integrate it into making the actual pipe, or just make a mold for the flange. Would be tough to get a good seal though.

I think in theory its cool, and it actually looks pretty sweet. However, I would put it on a show car of sorts, I would just be always worried of it breaking. But then again, could work out great. So. Do it. Post pics.

 

[magik95]

Yea we thought of that. We are just going to use a aluminum adapter from ebay. Dont want leaks there. Small piece that wouldnt look to out of place once painted black.

 

[Weapon-X]

Hell if this is for cosmetic purposes, You could just wrap the aluminum piping with the carbon fiber with out a lot of added weight. I mean if you add a pound of weight your surely not gonna notice it.

I mean look at all the headaches you will solve. You wont need to make molds, Interior will be smooth, Burst strength won't be an issue, BOV flange won't be problematic, Beading on the pipes won't be an issue, Disturbance/deformation to the carbon weave should be less likely to happen, etc.

Just something to consider. I mean you will be using real carbon fiber..........It will look every bit of a FULL carbon piece. Just with out all the fabrication problems.

 

[magik95]

If at the end we fail this is a most def option for me at least. My bro not so much.

 

[gixrman]

What type of foam? I was actually thinking about the foam swimming tubes.

Its a 2 part expanding foam I get from US composites
Urethane Foam , Expanding Marine Polyurethane Foam.
The first one I did, I used that blue foam panels from Lowes and cut it with a hot wire knife. I did a write up on that one.

As far as the foam swimmy tubes, that all depend on what resin you use. There is a chemical reaction between some (Polyester resin) resins and some plastics. I use epoxy resin (West Systems) which isn't as naste as polyester but is more expensive.

As far as covering aluminum with CF, I would suggest you put a layer of fiberglass inbetween the two. Appearantly there is a reaction between CF and aluminum (galvanic corrosion) that cuases the aluminum to degrade over time.

There is a lot of great info on composites on several forums such as:
racingcomposites.net and fiberglassforums.com which are my favorites.