Sixty to seventy percent of a Formula 1 car’s structural weight is carbon fibre, so understanding the inherent strengths – and weaknesses – of different types of carbon materials is essential.

In our carbon laboratories, we’re able to accurately measure the tensile strength of strips of carbon-fibre samples. In this example, our engineers loaded a 10mm long strip of carbon, measuring just 1.3mm thick, into our rig and tested it in tension.

The sample reached a measurement of 4.5 tonnes – far in excess of any requirement on the car – before it failed structurally, ripping itself apart with enormous ballistic strength.

Get the full story at: http://mclrn.co/MP431

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