Hypetex – a novel coloured carbon fibre composite

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Carbon fibre reinforced polymer was invented ~50 years ago by a team of engineers at aRoyal Aircraft Establishment. It is a structural composite material with a unique combinationof properties that makes it strong, stiff and light: carbon fibre structure of equal strength willoften weigh 1/5th that of steel.Virtually all CF manufactured worldwide is used in combination with a binding matrix toproduce carbon composites such as carbon fibre reinforced plastics. The weight savingachieved through use of carbon composites has made them a material of choice for manyindustries looking for efficiency gains, such as aerospace, automotive and wind turbines,opening up new engineering possibilities.However, although carbon fibre composite offers many structural advantages, as well as adistinctive and desirable visual appearance due to the woven structure of the fibres, its use inproduct design has been restricted by carbon fibre’s intrinsic black colouration.Where colour has been mandated for performance and/or aesthetic reasons, it has been appliedduring post-processing, incurring expense, adding unwanted weight, and, frequently, therequirement for routine maintenance, often in challenging environments, e.g. off-shore windturbines.Utilising proprietary technology and expertise initially developed for Formula 1 motor racing,GPF One is seeking to develop and commercialise a portfolio of coloured carbon composites.In the proposed project, informed by prospective user input, GPF One intends to useinnovative processes to demonstrate the technical feasibility of producing a novel, durable andscalable coloured carbon composite that matches and/or exceeds desired performancecharacteristics whilst satisfying the unmet market need.