I am currently taking ME 250- Materials Science at BYU. We have been discussing the different types of polymers and their uses. Yesterday, our professor brought in some carbon fiber pipes and plates, and I was surprised at how strong these materials were. I was very impressed with their strength and wondered what engineers were applying this material to:
I checked out http://www.syntek-carbon.com/
I thought it was interesting that they were using carbon fiber as a hockey stick. I played street hockey when I was a kid and know how to hit a puck. I also know that occasionally a hockey stick breaks. In this event, with a carbon fiber stick, that could be extremely dangerous. Swinging a sharp stick and having tiny fibers fly around upon rupture gives me the chills. However, the company wraps their hockey sticks with Kevlar. I think this is an ingenious idea. Kevlar doesn't tear or cut easily and is a great way to contain all of the shattered fibers.
Other applications I found were bicycles, mountain climbing gear, water rafting gear, or golf clubs. The basic idea is to have something really tough but light weight.
Another site had carbon fiber technology in a piano. Check it out! http://www.kawaius.com/main_links/acoustic_brochures/carbon_fiber.pdf
