Choosing the Right Product Materials: Carbon Fiber

Longtime NBA fans, does Cross Traxxion sound familiar? It does to us. In fact, we love bringing up this story when we explaining carbon fiber invention design in Austin. Back in 2006, the NBA announced that they would be switching to a new ball. A ball made with a proprietary microfiber called Cross Traxxion. However, after just two months of in-game use, the players said enough was enough. By the end of 2006, NBA announced that they were going to the old leather ball in 2007 immediately after the winter holiday break.

Listen to some of the feedback when players got their hands on the microfiber ball, it’s not great. Shaq said, “It feels like one of those cheap balls you buy at the toy store.” Others experienced even worse luck with this fiber invention design. “I have to constantly put lotion all over my hands because my fingers are cracking and it’s causing splits on my fingertips,” said Ray Allen. Steve Nash echoed the same thing when he told reporters that the ball was tearing his fingers apart.

What’s the common denominator here? The microfiber ball was not usable because it provided an extraordinarily poor user experience.

All because of a change in material.

That’s the difference between a good choice and a poor choice of material for your invention idea. One material that we get asked quite often about is carbon fiber invention design in Austin, like our client’s Companion Bike.

Companion Bike carbon fiber invention design

What is Carbon Fiber

If you’ve never worked with a carbon fiber invention design in Austin, you’re probably curious about what it is. Also known as graphite fiber or carbon graphite, carbon fiber is made of tiny, thin strands of the element carbon. To create carbon fiber, both a chemical and mechanical process takes place. Its starts with the raw material being drawn into long fibers. It’s then heated in an anaerobic space. The lack of oxygen in this environment ensures the fibers do not burn.

Once the fibers are hot enough, they will start vibrating aggressively and expel non-carbon atoms. This process is called carbonization. The result? Fibers are made up of long, fibers of tightly interlocked carbon atom chains.

Working with carbon fiber

The Benefits of Carbon Fiber

Our engineers and designers who work on carbon fiber invention design in Austin love this material for its high tensile strength and stiffness. Indeed in relation to size, carbon fiber is extremely strong and light. It has a low weight to strength ratio. Each strand of fiber is five to 10 microns long in diameter and is incredibly strong in relation to size. In fact, it’s five times stronger and two times stiffer than steel!

Other benefits include high chemical resistance, temperature tolerance to heat, and low thermal expansion. And since they’re made with long fibers, they can also be twisted into yarn to weave strong and durable cloths. They’re great for propeller blades, tubing, car components, and of course, bike frames.