Carbon fiber bonding to metal?

[CRXed]

Is it possible to bond carbon fiber to metal without glue? Will the resin attach the carbon to sheet metal?

[dragonfly2k3]

I dont see why not, but im also not a composites engineer. Im sure someone here has the answer though.

[Nick 95 6sp]

You have to be careful to control corrosion of the metal caused by the CF. If you google your thread topic here, you'll get some hits and dig through them. E.g., read this:

Bonding Metal

Q: On your web site you have indicated that aluminum and carbon fibre react so as to cause cathodic corrosion. Is this also the case with steel or cromoly steel and carbon fibre?

A: Yes, it is a problem with steels as well as with aluminum alloys. The easy solution is to prevent contact. One way to do this is to include a single light ply of fiberglass in the layup as an electrical insulator between the metal and carbon. Trek did this with their bonded aluminum lug carbon tube bikes. Specialized did too, and Kestrel uses small patches of fiberglass in the fork and frame where metal parts attach. Aerospace structures do the same. See NASA's document TM-584C, CORROSION CONTROL AND TREATMENT MANUAL.

Q: Bonding of the Aluminum BB shell. Have you had any failures in BB/epoxy bonding since using the cycle?

A: No failure yet after four years of riding! The exterior surface of the aluminum shell has a very heavily knurled surface. I think this helps the epoxy mechanically capture the shell.

Q: Did you do any surface treatments to the BB prior to the epoxy bonding?

A: I cleaned it with acetone. Now I know better, and would also use West System's two part aluminum etch kit. See http://www.westsystem.com/webpages/userinfo/manual/index.htm#2.1 for West System's recommendations on special preparation for various materials.

Q: What brand of epoxy did you use?

A: For bonding I used 3M's DP460, dispensed through their DuoPak squeeze gun cartridge. See 3M's web site for more info: http://www.mmm.com/bonding/.

[BlkWhtTSI]

fiberglass, bondo, epoxy, that'll work best and it wont fall apart in the rain.