Engineering Commons^™

Selection Of A Flexible Polymer To Protect Dry Carbon Fibers In A Cfrp Wallet Hinge, Evan Dowey, Matthew Johnson

Materials Engineering

Common Fibers, a company founded by Cal Poly alumni, produces carbon fiber wallets. The invention of their built-in fiber-matrix composite hinge reduces the need for extra complexity and added mass that is inherent with using standard metal hinges to join standard composite panels. Replacing the polyurethane tape on the wallet hinge allows for improved protection while maintaining flexibility and other performance properties is critical to the success of such a design. The most important material property in this project is the bond strength between carbon fiber and a variety of flexible resin candidates. The silicone and urethane based elastomer resins …