See How Carbon Fiber Holds up Against a Hydraulic Press (W/Video)

The internet loves gratuitous destruction, which is probably why the Hydraulic Press Channel on YouTube is so popular. If you’re not familiar, every video posted to the channel features a Finnish machinist crushing things with his hydraulic press. This week, the channel takes on carbon fiber.

In addition to being lightweight, carbon fiber is known for being strong. The former attribute doesn’t help some pieces of the composite material withstand the pressure of a 100-ton hydraulic press, however. The Channel’s star, factory owner Lauri Vuohensilta, brings out four items made out of carbon fiber, including three tubes of varying diameters and one thickly layered plate called a “sandwich.” The first tube is laid down flat and crushes very easily. The last two cylinders are stood up vertically and provide more of a spectacle as they crush, but they still prove to be no problem for the press.

The sandwich best showcases carbon fiber’s strength, as initial attempts to crush it are unsuccessful. Switching to a narrower-diameter tool leaves a bigger impression in the material, but it still doesn’t compress. Finally, Vuohensilta places a large hex nut on the plate that seems to disappear as the tool presses it into the piece. The force of the nut penetrating the sandwich causes one of the layers to buckle, but otherwise it looks mostly intact.

So if you have a carbon fiber wing on your car, you can show this video to your friends when you feel like boasting about how strong the material is.

Source: Hydraulic Press Channel via YouTube

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