According to forecasts by research institutions, global carbon fiber demand will increase from 46,000 tons in 2011 to 140,000 tons in 2020. According to the construction plan announced by the carbon fiber manufacturers, the global carbon fiber production capacity will increase from 102,000 tons in 2011 to 129,000 tons in 2015 and is expected to further increase to 185,000 tons in 2020.
At present, the global carbon fiber application needs are divided into 17% for aviation, 67% for industrial applications (including wind energy and automobiles), and 16% for sporting goods. It is predicted that by 2020, the demand for two major applications of wind power and automobiles will account for 46% of the world's total carbon fiber demand. The demand for the wind energy industry (by weight) will increase from 10,440 tons in 2011 to 54,270 tons in 2020. The demand in the aviation/defense field is expected to increase from 7,694 tons in 2011 to 18,462 tons in 2020.
The growth in demand has driven global carbon fiber production companies to expand production. For example, Toray plans to increase its annual production capacity to 27,100 tons in 2015; SGL's US plant has been put into operation with annual production capacity of 3,000 tons. In addition, many companies in China have already built or are constructing carbon fiber precursors and carbonization plants. It is expected that by 2020, Japan's production of carbon fiber will account for 25% of the world's total production, the United States accounts for 28%, Europe accounts for 28%, China accounts for 9%, and other regions account for 10%.
"Gravity Die Casting. A permanent mould casting process, where the molten metal is poured from a vessle of ladle into the mould, and cavity fills with no force other than gravity, in a similar manner to the production of sand castings, although filling cn be controlled by tilting the die."
Gravity Die Casting
Sometimes referred to as Permanent Mould, GDC is a repeatable casting process used for non-ferrous alloy parts, typically aluminium, Zinc and Copper Base alloys.
The process differs from HPDC in that Gravity- rather than high pressure- is used to fill the mould with the liquid alloy.
GDC is suited to medium to high volumes products and typically parts are of a heavier sections than HPDC, but thinner sections than sand casting.
There are three key stages in the process.
- The heated mould [Die or Tool] is coated with a die release agent. The release agent spray also has a secondary function in that it aids cooling of the mould face after the previous part has been removed from the die.
- Molten metal is poured into channels in the tool to allow the material to fill all the extremities of the mould cavity. The metal is either hand poured using steel ladles or dosed using mechanical methods. Typically, there is a mould [down sprue" that allows the alloy to enter the mould cavity from the lower part of the die, reducing the formation of turbulence and subsequent porosity and inclusions in the finished part.
- Once the part has cooled sufficiently, the die is opened, either manually or utilising mechanical methods.
Advantages
- Good dimensional accuracy
- Smoother cast surface finish than sand casting
- Improved mechanical properties compared to sand casting
- Thinner walls can be cast compared to sand casting
- Reverse draft internal pockets and forms can be cast in using preformed sand core inserts
- Steel pins and inserts can be cast in to the part
- Faster production times compared to other processes.
- Once the tolling is proven, the product quality is very repeatable.
- Outsourced Tooling setup costs can be lower than sand casting.
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