Carbon Fiber shortage?

[WenULiVeUdiE]

It seems that all online stores are out of stock of HPA tanks. I have been told by numerous people that this is due to a shortage of the carbon fiber they wrap the tanks with. Can anyone verify this? Or shed some light on it? It's kind of...odd.

[SeeK]

They are probably diverting it to ramp up production of the Boeing 787s. :)

[magman007]

787? you mean the 7e7? thats the only real production verge boeing is working on at the moment

[nippinout]

787? you mean the 7e7? thats the only real production verge boeing is working on at the moment

'twas given a designation of 787.

link (http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2005/q1/nr_050128g.html)

[SeeK]

The model number became final after the big Chinese orders:

http://www.boeing.com/news/releases/2005/q1/nr_050128h.html

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/7e7/flash.html

[magman007]

ah my appologies then! hadnt heard that yet

[SeeK]

It's either that or the military is using it but build something.

[Predator-KMK]

according to scientist, carbon fiber threes are facing extintion, so they´r very hard to find :D

[CaliMagFan]

It seems that all online stores are out of stock of HPA tanks. I have been told by numerous people that this is due to a shortage of the carbon fiber they wrap the tanks with. Can anyone verify this? Or shed some light on it? It's kind of...odd.


only thing is that tanks are wrapped in fiber-GLASS.... not carbon fiber at all... and no... carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the known universe, we arent in a shortage.

[FreakBaller12]

uh oh back to the carbon fiber mines guys! :p

[paullus99]

Tank manufacturers only build tanks twice or three times a year - the safety testing is so thorough & expensive that they don't run continuous production. So, if there has been excessive demand on HPA tanks over the last production period, there would be a supply gap until the next production run.

[manike]

only thing is that tanks are wrapped in fiber-GLASS.... not carbon fiber at all... and no... carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the known universe, we arent in a shortage.

Not true. Some tanks are fibre glass wraps and some are carbon fibre wrapped.

The Carbon fibre wrapped tanks are lighter.

Yes there is a shortage right now. Some big military/aerospace project has taken up a huge amount of the supply and the price on carbon fibre tanks is going to go up. I was told this by the makers of Carlton tanks.

[skife]

there would be a supply gap until the next production run.

that would be a shortage.

[atcer]

actualy you all would be surprized to know that carbon fiber its self is only maufactured in one or two production runs a year... And military and aerospace get first dibs, then the private sectors. and that cool carbon fiber weave everyone loves the look of so much, is just for show. It does not ad anythning structuraly to the sheets of carbon. Infact, look at a carbon fiber bike, it has no weave, the fiber comes from the fact that the carbon "nano-tubes" are woven together, the weavy thing just looks cool. I learned that from TREK (the teach an all day class we were required to attend), they are one of the largest US buyers of Carbon Fiber, for use in the OCLV series of road bikes, and in limeted use in the off road line. ( I worked at a bike shop.)

[CaliMagFan]

this is an interesting thread..

my carlton tank is not carbon fiber.

[p8ntball365]

I had a tuffskin Nitroduck tank that was made with carbon fiber :headbang:

[manike]

Carlton makes Carbon Fibre and Glass Fibre wrapped tanks. They were explaining to us how the cost was going to go up on the Carbon Fibre wrapped ones and making clear the difference in cost/weight etc.

[SeeK]

that cool carbon fiber weave everyone loves the look of so much, is just for show. It does not ad anythning structuraly to the sheets of carbon. Infact, look at a carbon fiber bike, it has no weave, the fiber comes from the fact that the carbon "nano-tubes" are woven together, the weavy thing just looks cool. I learned that from TREK (the teach an all day class we were required to attend), they are one of the largest US buyers of Carbon Fiber, for use in the OCLV series of road bikes, and in limeted use in the off road line. ( I worked at a bike shop.)

For a bike application the weaving might not matter but the alternating pattern is an indication of the lamination of layers that are similar to plywood. I would be surprised if a bike frame didn't use some weaving since it would add stiffness. I assume they use a mold and use and autoclave to cure it as 1 piece.

http://www.advancedcomposites.com/technology.htm#properties

Let's blame TREK for driving up the price of our tanks.

[Toxic Dave]

The word is that it's because of the new Airbus plane, who knows, but the manufacturers have known it was going to happen since the fall, and there wasn't much they could do about it.

dave

[spantol]

carbon is one of the most abundant elements in the known universe, we arent in a shortage.


Tell that to DeBeers. Bunch of price-fixing bastards, they are.

Bitter, party of one...

[Conversekidz]

Tell that to DeBeers. Bunch of price-fixing bastards, they are.

Bitter, party of one...


diamonds= biggest rip off ever

[Fatjon]

my crossfire sales rep told me, "that boeing has bought alot of the fiber they use to wrap the tanks with to use on airplanes". Im not sure how long this will last but thats what they told me.

[Fathom]

Hes been putting it on all of his gear...

(its really only stickers don't listen to me too much to drink :p )

[JaredMeier]

i think it has to do with carbon fiber being used on "secret" ufo production that is going on at area 51.

[JRingold]

i think it has to do with carbon fiber being used on "secret" ufo production that is going on at area 51.

And if you call the government to complaing, they can not confirm nor deny that there are any "secrets" in an area believed to have the designation "51".

Does anyone have any insight on effect of tank pricing, or hydro testing?

[nippinout]

actualy you all would be surprized to know that carbon fiber its self is only maufactured in one or two production runs a year... And military and aerospace get first dibs, then the private sectors. and that cool carbon fiber weave everyone loves the look of so much, is just for show. It does not ad anythning structuraly to the sheets of carbon. Infact, look at a carbon fiber bike, it has no weave, the fiber comes from the fact that the carbon "nano-tubes" are woven together, the weavy thing just looks cool. I learned that from TREK (the teach an all day class we were required to attend), they are one of the largest US buyers of Carbon Fiber, for use in the OCLV series of road bikes, and in limeted use in the off road line. ( I worked at a bike shop.)

Carbon fiber behaves differently when it has an axial load as compared to a radial load. The weave's purpose is to make the material behave more isotropically. The more layers and directions you have, the more uniform it will behave.

[JRingold]

I stumbled across this article today, from January 2005:
http://www.compositesworld.com/hpc/issues/2005/January/689

One theory is that demand estimates aren't being taken into consideration when production is scheduled.

[nuclear zombie]

Not true. Some tanks are fibre glass wraps and some are carbon fibre wrapped.

The Carbon fibre wrapped tanks are lighter.

Yes there is a shortage right now. Some big military/aerospace project has taken up a huge amount of the supply and the price on carbon fibre tanks is going to go up. I was told this by the makers of Carlton tanks.

Probaly starting production of the JSF's or F22's .

[Counterfeit_Syn5304]

yeah I heard it was suppost to be used by the military for their new fighters, but who knows...

[SeeK]

Not likely since military contracts are for a fixed unit known years in advance.

They would have already lined up suppliers that meet specs before the contract was signed.

I doubt you could pass gas if it wasn't scheduled. :D

However, commercial aircraft is built on demand from many companies because they can't be sure that 300 planes will be ordered in a 5 year period. Maybe they will sell 600? That kind of demand is much harder to forcast.

[magman007]

its probabally due to the 787 or the airbus a380, but the a380 isnt in high demand, the 787 is. highly efficient, fast, and comfortable, it is the comercial plane of the future