Types continuous fiber-reinforced

Pitch-Based General Performance Carbon Fiber (GPCF). As described in the introduction, continuous-strand GPCF has been produced commercially only by the Kureha Chemical Industries Company. Public attention has recently been attracted to this type of carbon fiber by the success in using carbon-fiber-reinforced concrete in the construction of the Arsasheed Monument in Iraq (24) by the Kashima Construction (Kashima Kensetsu) Co. Future construction projects in Japan plan to utilize further this type of fiber-reinforced concrete. Such applications may lead to mass consumption of fiber if its price can be brought below 9/kg ( 4/lb). The authors believe that some substantial reductions in the price of the general-performance fiber, perhaps to 6.5/kg ( 3/lb), may occur in the near future. 

Keywords pitch-based high performance-type carbon continuous fiber reinforced plasUc, chemically resolvable resin, environment-conscious materials (ecomaterials) design, deformed rebar, hybrid structure, lighweight precast concrete, recycle, service life,... 

There are three kinds of metal-matrix composites distinguished by type of reinforcement particle-reinforced MMCs, short fiber- or whisker-reinforced MMCs, and continuous fiber- or sheet-reinforced MMCs. Table 1 provides examples of some important reinforcements used in metal-matrix composites as well as their aspect (length/diameter) ratios and diameters. 

There are many different equipment options avaQable to suit specific product needs including continuous winders for pipe, multiaxis winders for pressure vessels, and simple lathe-type winders for tanks and large pipe. Specialty machines combine a chopped reinforcement with continuous fibers for tank walls and large-diameter pipe where both stiffness and tensQe strength are required. Textile braiders have also been adapted for use as continuous... 

A composite material is defined as a material consisting of two or more distinct constituents or phases, which are insoluble in one another. The main types of reinforcement are particles, discontinuous fibers, continuous fibers (or filaments) and flakes. 

Recall from Section 1.4.5.1 that there are two primary types of carbon fibers polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based and pitch-based. There are also different structural forms of these fibers, such as amorphous carbon and crystalline (graphite) fibers. Typically, PAN-based carbon fibers are 93-95% carbon, whereas graphite fibers are usually 99+%, although the terms carbon and graphite are often used interchangeably. We will not try to burden ourselves with too many distinctions here, since the point is to simply introduce the relative benefits of continuous-fiber composites over other types of composites, and not to investigate the minute differences between the various types of carbon-fiber-based composites. The interested reader is referred to the abundance of literature on carbon-fiber-reinforced composites to discern these differences. 

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