Carbon fiber has been finding its ways into the market, from aerospace to automobile to consumer goods. It boasts a great strength-to-weight ratio, being lightweight and rigid. Yet the foundation of many industries and goods is still steel. With all of the apparent benefits which carbon fibers offers, why has steel remained robust in the contemporary technological world?
There are two manifest reasons: cost and shelf life. Carbon fiber has found niche markets where its cost is more of a non issue such as aerospace or high performance auto racing. These industries have the funds to purchase such high quality and expensive material. Carbon fiber has found a place in a spattering of consumer goods, such as bicycle frames or golf clubs, but then again the cost of these products far exceeds that of their steel contemporaries.
The potentially more discouraging element of carbon fiber is its longevity. It has been shown that eventually carbon fiber will crack under strain. Steel has proven its integrity and will remain the ‘cornerstone’ of the industrial world for a long time.
Tech Steel & Materials is a leading industrial metal supply company that specializes in meeting the high-performance materials needs of the aerospace, defense and power generation industries. With more than 75 years of collective metal service experience, technical know-how and a vast inventory of products, the Long Island, NY-based company provides a range of specialized services and processes to the international market, including bar to tube conversions, cutting, machining, grinding, heat treatment and testing, as well as custom production of nonstandard sizes and alloys of tubing, bar and flat rolled products. [via]
