thumb|right|240px|Pieces of reinforced carbon–carbon including a panel removed from the wing of [[Space Shuttle Atlantis|Space Shuttle Atlantis, showing brittle failure of C/C due to foam impact reproducing a possible event during Columbias final launch.]]

Carbon fibre reinforced carbon (CFRC),

First, material is laid up in its intended final shape, with carbon filament and/or cloth surrounded by an organic binder such as plastic or pitch. Often, coke or some other fine carbon aggregate is added to the binder mixture.

Second, the lay-up is heated, so that pyrolysis transforms the binder to relatively pure carbon. The binder loses volume in the process, causing voids to form; the addition of aggregate reduces this problem, but does not eliminate it.

Third, the voids are gradually filled by forcing a carbon-forming gas such as acetylene through the material at a high temperature, over the course of several days. This long heat treatment process also allows the carbon to form into larger graphite crystals, and is the major reason for the material's high cost. The gray "Reinforced Carbon–Carbon (RCC)" panels on the space shuttle's wing leading edges and nose cone cost NASA $100,000/sq ft to produce,<!-- so how big is the "panel" described? what is the cost per sq. meter of a certain thickness? or cost per kg of Carbon-Carbon material produced? or cost per unit volume of material? And, of course, need sources too. --> although much of this cost was a result of the advanced geometry and research costs associated with the panels. This stage can also include manufacturing of the finished product.

The material has a density between 1.6 and 1.98&nbsp;g/cm<sup>3</sup>.

Similar products

thumb|right|240px|The [[Dunlop Rubber|Dunlop carbon brakes as used on the Concorde airliner.]]

thumb|right|240px|The [[disc brake|brake disc of this Ferrari race car's braking system is made from carbon fibre-reinforced silicon carbide which is a CMC rather than a C/C]]

Carbon fibre-reinforced silicon carbide (C/SiC) is a development of pure carbon–carbon that uses silicon carbide with carbon fibre. It is slightly denser than pure carbon-carbon and thought to be more durable.

It can be used in the brake disc and brake pads of high-performance road cars. The first car to use it was the Mercedes-Benz C215 Coupe F1 edition. It is standard on the Bugatti Veyron and many Bentleys, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Porsches, and the Corvette ZR1 and Z06. They are also offered as an optional upgrade on certain high performance Audi cars, including the D3 S8, B7 RS4, C6 S6 and RS6, and the R8. The material is not used in Formula 1 because of its weight.

Carbon brakes became widely available for commercial airplanes in the 1980s, having been first used on the Concorde supersonic transport.

A related non-ceramic carbon composite with uses in high-tech racing automotives is the carbotanium carbon–titanium composite used in the Zonda R and Huayra supercars made by the Italian motorcar company Pagani.

Footnotes

References

  • Carbon brakes for Concorde