On September 10, it was reported that carbon fiber is hailed as the king of new materials. Its fibrous form is soft and can be processed into various fabrics, with a very wide range of applications. According to CCTV, the first batch of heavy-duty railway freight cars made from domestically developed carbon fiber is currently undergoing final debugging in Qiqihar, Heilongjiang, and will soon be launched.
The research base, Beijing Low Carbon Clean Energy Research Institute, stated that traditional railway freight cars are primarily made of steel and aluminum alloy. The railway freight cars being launched this time are the first to use new materials primarily composed of carbon fiber, featuring reduced self-weight, increased load capacity, and larger volume.
Researchers indicated that the carbon fiber composite panels used in railway freight cars are made from carbon fiber as the raw material, with one of the key processes being "impregnation." By modifying polymer resins, their mechanical properties and environmental adaptability have been significantly enhanced. The modified polymer resin is impregnated with carbon fiber strands through the impregnation process to form carbon fiber prepreg (note: this is a sheet-like intermediate material).
Researchers used this special resin through the impregnation process and a high-temperature, high-pressure curing process to ultimately obtain the panels, whose strength far exceeds that of existing metal materials. Even when tested with a hammer by a CCTV reporter, there was no change at all.
In addition to freight cars, the world's first carbon fiber subway train for commercial operation, "CETROVO 1.0 Carbon Star Express," was officially launched in June this year in Qingdao. This train was developed jointly by CRRC Sifang and the Qingdao Metro Group, reducing weight by 11% compared to traditional subway vehicles. Currently, the train has completed factory type testing and is scheduled to enter passenger demonstration operation on Qingdao Metro Line 1 within the year.
