Double-Sided High Strength Carbon Fiber Sheet

Whether or not cut edges would benefit from sealing really comes down to the application and environment where the sheet will be used, specifically, we're really talking about prolonged or permanent exposure to liquids like water, chemicals, oil etc. In an application where the cut edge of the sheet is going to be regularly or permanently exposed to liquids then it would be beneficial to seal the edge to prevent water ingress which, over enough time, can travel down the fibres and cause delamination.

Based on the above, if edge sealing is deemed advantageous then it's best done using some epoxy resin which should be mixed (according to its accompanying instructions) and either be brushed or smeared on the cut edge, or the cut edge dipped in it. Although it's by no means critical, a particularly suitable resin would be our XCR Epoxy Coating Resin.

It's not possible to give an exact weight because it would depend on many things (how the sheet is supported, what the span in, how the weight it loaded, whether the sheet is a 'free span' (i.e. not bonded/fixed) or bonded or fixed (so you get a 'drum skin' effect). That said, you could be confident that a sheet slid over a hole such that the sheet is supported on all sides would support the weight of an average person quite easily.

I guess you're asking if it can be heated and re-formed (like softening and bending a thermoplastic). If so then no; this is a cured, rigid sheet, its shape cannot be changed other than cutting it. The only way you can shape a prepreg is to buy our Easy Composite's uncured prepreg carbon fibre. You would then need to vacuum bag the prepreg in a mould and cure it in an oven. Because there's quite a few materials and bits of equipment involved in this process and you are interested in curing your own prepregs then we have, under our Easy Composites brand, put together a Prepreg Carbon Fibre Starter Kit which includes everything you would need.

The 0.25mm sheet is a single layer of carbon.  Although the resin does flow during the cure and is likely to ensure any slight gaps between the fibres are filled with resin, it is impossible to say it would be totally pinhole free and air tight.  So there is the possibility of air being able to get through.  The thicker the sheet, the more layers and the less chance a pinhole could form an air path all the way through. 

Due to the nature of the foam core and bond strength over such a large area, using an epoxy resin as an adhesive would work fine for most applications. On a practical side, with the EL2, you can have a good working time to evenly cover the sheet and assemble the panel compared to the very short working time of the VM100 Adhesive.  The bonding surfaces of the carbon sheet will need to be sanded to give a rough key to help with adhesion. 

No, the sheets are made up of fibres orientated at the 0 and 90 degree orientations so are not quasi-isoptropic.

The weave pattern of the sheets is a 2/2 twill weave.

These sheets have a maximum service temperature of 100°C.

All the thickness of sheets we sell will accept being bent in small angles over a radius without a problem. The thinner sheets can be bent over a radius by a considerable amount without failure. The sheet will try to return to its original flat shape so for a curved panel, it would need to be bonded or fixed in plate to hold that shape.

Due to the nature of the composite structure, any such bending needs to be over a radius. Trying to create a sharp bend or fold will cause the sheets to fracture and fail around the fold edge.

In double-sided carbon fibre sheet we don't have sheets larger than 580x580mm - this is because of the way the double-sided sheets are manufactured. However, we do now have our new single sided high strength sheets which are also 100% carbon fibre and have the same mechanical properties as the double sided sheet but is available in sheet sizes up to 2m x 1m.

The 0.25mm sheet is made from a single layer of pre-preg carbon fibre. The vast majority of the sheet is a uniform carbon fibre finish, however there is occasionally a small gap in the weave pattern that will allow light to pass through the sheet.