- Apr 6, 2001
- 2,262
- 326
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So I was out on the production floor where they were putting composite material onto forms before putting them into the autoclave. I noticed that they had a large amount of scrap in bags. I asked the supervisor what was going to be done with all of the scrap. He said it was probably going to just be thrown away. He told me that they tried doing a test of taking the scrap material to make parts, but under testing, these new parts were about only 95% as strong as parts not made from scrap. The supervisor in the factory also told me that this graphene composite is 20% lighter than a carbon fiber composite, and is 200 times stronger than steel.
He gave me a small piece of scrap for a sample. He said over a month (unless I put it in the freezer) it would cure on its own. I suggested that this could be used for making light weight auto parts like a spoiler or hood scoop. He said that I could, but, this isn't a carbon fiber composite but a graphene composite with very little carbon content, and that if I used it on an automobile, the graphene would act like a battery and the part of the car that touched this composite would rust away.
I took home the scrap in a plastic bag (which wasn't very much) and cut it with my tin snips into a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square, and I layered the pieces to about 1/4" thick. I put the material between 2 pieces of 1/2" plate steel and clamped it as tightly as possible. I set the oven to self cleaning mode (approx. 500 degrees F) and let it "cook" for an hour. After taking it out of the oven and letting it cool (only about 45 minutes) this is now one piece and rock solid. I put it in my table vise and started pounding on it with a 5 lbs sledge hammer and it didn't flex or break (I was afraid I was going to break my cheap harbor freight vise).
I decided to see what the resistance of the Graphene composite was, and was surprised that if I got the ohm meter in the right position, the resistance was 0.
This is my first YouTube video so please forgive the poor quality. I didn’t say anything and I didn’t realize how much my hands shake.
Anyway, I thought I would share my fun piddling around with this stuff. I'll probably hook a small 9v battery to it and see how many volts will pass through.
He gave me a small piece of scrap for a sample. He said over a month (unless I put it in the freezer) it would cure on its own. I suggested that this could be used for making light weight auto parts like a spoiler or hood scoop. He said that I could, but, this isn't a carbon fiber composite but a graphene composite with very little carbon content, and that if I used it on an automobile, the graphene would act like a battery and the part of the car that touched this composite would rust away.
I took home the scrap in a plastic bag (which wasn't very much) and cut it with my tin snips into a 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" square, and I layered the pieces to about 1/4" thick. I put the material between 2 pieces of 1/2" plate steel and clamped it as tightly as possible. I set the oven to self cleaning mode (approx. 500 degrees F) and let it "cook" for an hour. After taking it out of the oven and letting it cool (only about 45 minutes) this is now one piece and rock solid. I put it in my table vise and started pounding on it with a 5 lbs sledge hammer and it didn't flex or break (I was afraid I was going to break my cheap harbor freight vise).
I decided to see what the resistance of the Graphene composite was, and was surprised that if I got the ohm meter in the right position, the resistance was 0.
This is my first YouTube video so please forgive the poor quality. I didn’t say anything and I didn’t realize how much my hands shake.
Anyway, I thought I would share my fun piddling around with this stuff. I'll probably hook a small 9v battery to it and see how many volts will pass through.
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