WSU Daily Evergreen, MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2019
Researchers from WSU’s Composite Materials and Engineering Center (CMEC) partnered with a nonprofit recy-cling center in Port Angeles to combine recycled carbon fiber from airplanes with thermally-modified timber to construct better housing materials.
CMEC Director Don Bender said they were looking for a creative way to marry carbon fiber with cross-laminated timber (CLT) to create safe, affordable houses made out of green materials.
“Carbon fiber and wood com-posites is like chocolate and peanut butter,” Bender said. “It just goes together like a Reese’s cup.” When CLT panels experience natural disasters like earthquakes, they can split and gather localized stress near the edges, he said. The carbon fiber can be used to prevent damage and strengthen the wood.
Bender said the Composite Recycling Technology Center (CRTC) in Port Angeles uses carbon fiber from the aerospace industry and reuses it. Carbon fiber is costly and has to meet the highest quality standard to incorporate it into a plane. [Read more…]