Carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites are highly desirable for automotive and wind energy applications due to advantages associated with weight reduction, high stiffness and strength, durability, and recyclability. The high cost of carbon fiber has been a limiting factor in its widespread adoption in non-aerospace applications. A low cost (estimated < $11 per kg) wide tow (450-600k) carbon fiber derived from textile grade polyacrylonitirile precursor, and hence called Textile Grade Carbon Fiber (TCF) is introduced in this paper. Fundamental aspects of the TCF are discussed along with a detailed characterization of its mechanical properties. Two manufacturing processes relevant to automotive and wind energy applications are considered, namely-compression molding and resin infusion. At various stages the TCF has been compared to commercial non-aerospace 50k carbon fiber composite. Detailed physical and mechanical properties including tensile, flexural, compression, and interlaminar shear properties are reported and compared to non-aerospace carbon fiber composite. The results provide a means for designers and end-users in the automotive and wind energy sector to consider different forms of economical non-aerospace carbon fibers.

碳纤维增强的聚合物复合材料由于与重量减轻，高刚度和强度，耐用性和可回收性有关的优点而非常需要用于汽车和风能应用。碳纤维的高成本一直是其在非航空航天应用中广泛采用的限制因素。源自纺织级的低成本宽丝束（450-600k）（估计每公斤<$ 11）本文介绍了聚丙烯腈前体，因此被称为纺织级碳纤维（TCF）。讨论了TCF的基本方面以及其机械性能的详细特性。考虑了与汽车和风能应用相关的两个制造过程，即压缩成型和树脂灌注。在各个阶段，TCF已与商用非航空50k碳纤维复合材料进行了比较。报告了详细的物理和机械性能，包括拉伸，弯曲，压缩和层间剪切性能，并将其与非航空碳纤维复合材料进行了比较。结果为汽车和风能领域的设计人员和最终用户提供了一种考虑不同形式的经济型非航空碳纤维的方法。