Aluminum vs Carbon Fiber?

[ctheis]

I saw a Losi truck at the track this week with some carbon fiber parts. What's the difference between carbon fiber and aluminum? Is one better than the other? My truck 80% aluminum, and I was wondering if there would be any advantage to fabricating carbon fiber parts?

Thanks all,

[TheLaxPlayer]

Carbon fiber is MUCH lighter than aluminum. It would be very difficult to fabricate your own parts out of carbon fiber.

[InspGadgt]

Carbon fiber is lighter and stronger for the same sized piece. In most cases this is the preferred material. But in some it's not. Chassis for nitro cars are aluminum to help dissapate the engine heat. In the case of suspension arms aluminum ones are stronger but heavier. So if your looking for strength there and don't care about weight then you'd go with aluminum.

[ctheis]

aaahhh.....
thanks guys. If the savings is primarily weight then I think I will hold off on that project. I was contemplating fabricating a radio tray and shock towers out of it.

Thanks again guys,

Chad
:)

[WiLdDoG]

ooo shock towers...i have carbon fiber shock towers on mine and, when i landed a jump the screws stripped out. so, i had to drill a hole through it and bolted the shocks to it.. lotta work :(

[AudiTT-Quattro]

Neither material is satisfactory for radio trays. Aluminum as with any conductive metal will amplify a radio signal and cause glitching; and radio signals cannot permeate carbon fibre which wouldn't make that the ideal material either.

[InspGadgt]

Well with the antenna out of the body a carbon fiber radio tray isn't going to block the signal. But carbon fiber and graphite are both conductive like aluminum and can increase your chance of glitching. But with proper placement and some time and care in setup this can easily be overcome.

[mr_dove]

I was told by the owner of my local r/c shop that carbon fiber is lighter and stiffer but that the additional stiffness comes at the cost of durability.

He explained to me that the stiffness of the carbon fiber made it very responsive which is why many pro racers favor it. He said that it is also much more fragile and can crack or shatter much easier. This is because the rigidity of carbon fiber means that it cannot bend very much without breaking or cracking.

This is all just stuff that my local r/c track owner (and hobby shop owner) told me. It could be 100% wrong for all i know but he would seem to be knowlegable since he owns the track and the shop and sells all these parts.

[InspGadgt]

Kinda sorta. He's thinking in terms of normal RC parts. Typically the same part made from either aluminum or graphite is thinner in graphite because it's strength is so much higher it doesn't need to be as thick to maintain rigidity. In these cases yes graphite can crack or splinter. But given the same thickness comparison the aluminum will bend long before the graphite will crack or splinter.

[WiLdDoG]

carbon fiber bends?:confused: :confused: :confused:

[AudiTT-Quattro]

Yes, but because the modulus elasticity of CF is so high it doesn't retain the shape after being bent like any other composite.

mr_dove: There is no real right or wrong answer to what you were told. It depends what you're using the material for. Aluminum is better for some things and carbon fiber is better for others. :cool: