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

Subscribe to our channel and be the first to watch exclusive content from the Official McLaren YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/user/Official...

McLaren App | http://www.mclaren.com/app
McLaren.com | http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/
Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/McLaren.Racing
Twitter | https://twitter.com/McLarenF1
Google+ | https://plus.google.com/+McLaren


✅ Check out more posts with related topics: