Carbon Fiber and Kevlar?

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renee
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:22 pm
Location: Ames, IA

Carbon Fiber and Kevlar?

Post by renee »

I am designing my first set of skis and was wondering what the advantages of using carbon fiber and kevlar would be over fiberglass? Both materials seem to be included in higher end skis, but do they improve the skis enough (i.e. the kevlar helping to damp vibrations and the carbon fiber creating more stiffness) to be worth the extra investment? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Renee
hafte
Posts: 204
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:40 am

Post by hafte »

There has been a good discusion here about the virtues of carbon.

http://www.skibuilders.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=188

And some more info from these sites about both.

http://sweetcomposites.com/Fabric.html
http://www.angstkayak.com/compexp.html

You need to be careful where you place both materials in the composite. Kevlar does poorly in compression, and in a ski needs to be put under the core. It was stated in the above thread that the carbon is poor in compression, but I have found info in my "boatbiulders manual" that carbon rates very high in compression and poorly in tension, so would work best above the core.

IMO, neither is worth the price for a recreational user. Kevlar is 3x the price of glass and carbon is 2x the price of kevlar (in comperable weight). You could make several sets of glass only skies for what you would spend on either of these two materials.

Hafte
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