What is a carbon fiber helmet? The Ultimate Guide.

What is carbon fiber?

Carbon fiber is a high-strength and modulus heat-resistant fiber, a high-end variety of chemical fiber that is essentially carbon atoms bonded together in long chains.

These fibres are extremely hard and lightweight and can be used in a variety of processes to create materials.

It is a man-made material that can be used in almost endless ways. Almost anything you want to make can be made of carbon fiber.

Carbon fires have many uses, from something as simple as a mug to something as complex and important as an airplane wing. The carbon fiber appeal is both strong and convenient.

 It can be in situations where the strength of the metal is needed but not the weight.

How carbon fiber helmet is made？

Simply put, carbon fibres are made by pyrolyzing organic precursor fibres in an inert gas at temperatures above 982°C / 1800°F.

However , carbon fiber manufacturing is a complex task that involves polymerization and spinning, oxidation (also known as stabilization), carbonization (with the addition of a graphitization process for the preparation of high modulus carbon fibers), surface treatment and sizing.

Carbon fiber is a composite material formed by a combination of chemical and mechanical processes.

The process starts by drawing long fibers, which are then heated to very high temperatures, not allowing contact with oxygen to prevent them from burning.

 This causes carbonization, which drives off most of the non-carbon atoms.

The fibers are then heated to high temperatures in various specialized environments, causing a chemical reaction between the molecules and converting them into carbides, which enhance the fiber's conductivity and make it stronger.

The details of the process vary depending on the desired properties and uses of the product. Once the process is complete, the fibers can be used in everything from sporting goods to equipment and auto parts.

 

Advantages and disadvantages of carbon fiber for helmets.

Pros

Carbon fiber is a fiber material containing more than 95% carbon, the main element is carbon.

 Mixed with a matrix such as resin, carbon fiber composites can be made, and because of their light weight, high strength and stiffness, and plasticity, they can reduce the weight of helmets, so carbon fiber helmets tend to be more comfortable as well .

Not only do they reduce the incidence of injuries, they even protect against high voltage, which is very important for people who work with electrical work.

Cons

Because of the high production cost of carbon fiber, it is relatively expensive.

In addition, carbon fiber composites are brittle and cannot be repaired after damage, only replaced, so recycling is also difficult.

How to identify the real and fake carbon fiber helmet?

Touch

The real carbon fiber with your hands can clearly feel the obvious sense of fiber, obviously different from the imitation of carbon fiber, fake imitation of carbon fiber, just like carbon fiber printed on the kind of pattern, the surface is smooth, and simply do not feel the sense of fiber.

 Carbon fiber by the appearance of more "twill" carbon fiber cloth and resin glue processing and become, the preparation of its grain with obvious sense of hierarchy and 3D effect.

But the hand touch its surface is smooth, and imitation of carbon fiber grain sticker is not too much sense of hierarchy, even if there is, it does not have a real carbon fiber smooth touch.

Bake

 Real fiber can withstand high temperatures available open fire to bake, (time should not be too long, otherwise it is easy to become brittle) and fake carbon fiber is a plastic chemical fiber products, with the open fire a bake will appear to be signs of melting away.

Collision

Carbon fiber in addition to the characteristics of light, the biggest feature lies in the shape of its surface is not variable.

Steel plate deformation occurs after a collision, but not carbon fiber.

Carbon fiber structure such as honeycomb hexagonal composition, when subjected to excessive impact, the hexagonal body will collapse one by one, similar to tempered glass.

The difference is that toughened glass will be shattered, while carbon fiber is the pressure point to reach the site of localized collapse.

This characteristic of carbon fiber effectively maintains the overall basic shape of the structure, the structural characteristics of its collapse one by one to enhance the ability to resist the impact.

 In the stress point of each hexagonal structure will be the impact of energy evenly spread and distributed and instantly absorbed.

Cut

Of course, not the whole piece of destruction, only need to isolate a non-affecting aesthetics does not affect the use of the edges, to see if there is a carbon fiber strand inside, pull out to see if the strand is real.

If you break open a small piece out, like plastic resin as brittle, there is no silk thread involved, can be judged as shoddy products.

How to maintain carbon fiber helmet？

Cleaning Hard Hat Lens，All dirt can be more thoroughly removed with a swab lens cloth or with a mild soap mixed with warm water and a brush.

Safety cleaning cap housing，you can use a special detergent or a soft cloth dipped in neutral soapy water to wipe it, but remember not to clean the stubborn dirt too hard. Wipe it back and forth several times to soften it to avoid scratches on the shell.

cleaning cap liner；you can wash it in warm water or even throw it in the washing machine without any problem, but you must make sure the water temperature does not exceed 35 degrees Celsius and you use a mild soap for cleaning.

Frequently Asked Questions about Carbon Fiber Helmets：

Carbon fiber helmet is really useful?

It possesses absolute strength in making the shell. Carbon fiber helmets are very strong and provide unparalleled impact and penetration protection.

Carbon fibre helmets are extremely strong and offer superb impact and penetration protection.

Some moto gp riders are currently wearing carbon fiber caps on the track, this is because carbon fiber helmets are much stronger than ordinary helmets, while the weight is very light, to enhance the protective ability while reducing the constraints on them.

So relatively speaking, carbon fiber helmets will be more secure compared to ordinary helmets.

Carbon Fiber Helmet Lifespan.

Roughly life domestic 3 years, imported 5 years, if there is a fall on the need to consider changing, especially the cushion layer has a significant collapse must be changed, in times of crisis you know how important it is!