Carbon Fiber..

Carbon fiber are high performance advanced materials which are stronger than steel, stiffer than titanium and lighter than aluminium. Carbon fibers are generally produced by thermal degradation of materials such as viscose rayon, poly acrylonitrile, pitch, resins, methane, benzene etc. Their properties are influenced by the manufacturing techniques employed.
Carbon fibers are generally reinforced in two ways. Carbon fibers reinforced in a light weight matrix such as epoxy resin, polyester resin or polyamide are called carbon fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP). When the carbon fibers are reinforced in a carbon matrix, they are known as carbon fiber reinforced carbons (CFRC).These are otherwise known as carbon-carbon composites.
The application of reinforced carbon fibers can be broadly classified into three:
1) High technology sector including, aerospace, military and nuclear fields
2) General engineering sector including sports, transportation and chemical fields
3) Biomedical sector

In aerospace sector, reinforced carbon fibers are used to make aircraft wings, tail parts and helicopter rotor blades. Due to high thermal conductivity of carbon fibers, they are used as wall material of nuclear fission reactor and to make automobile parts. Due to very high strength and stiffness, carbon fibers are used to make sports goods and racing vehicle bodies. In biomedical sector, carbon fiber is used to make artificial human body parts such as bone plates, ligaments etc. Activated carbon fibers are used for water treatment. In defence sector, carbon fibers are used to make nose tips and head shields of missiles and rockets.