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Old 06-23-2017, 05:32 AM   #150 (permalink)
sidecar
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr View Post
I've been interested in fiberglass due to the ease to work on it at a small scale and the lower cost compared to carbon fiber, but nowadays I'd rather try some vegetable-based fibers due to the lower energy consumption inherent to their production.
What you need to be careful of is how it reacts to resin, where its probable that epoxy will show some risks, polyester is more forgiving. I guess silk would come up with some attractive numbers, perhaps hemp too (No pun intended).

Reference manila rope for which hemp was widely used during WW2. Hemp cloth is quite widely researched and likely available as a product. I believe silk was investigated for composites in the 90s.

Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
Another thing that I would be interested to try in a custom project is some way to drive a generator from a turbocharger, eventually using a setup similar to the starter-generator fitted to some small aircraft. That could also help overcoming turbo-lag.
Im not really understanding this, since a turbocharger already has its hot side and cold side occupied. Perhaps what you are looking for is an exhaust driven alternator, or do you mean something rather smaller than existing APU?
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