How to repair carbon fiber?
 

Because of my fear of parking, I just ever so gently plowed into a wall at school. I cracked my one off AIMGAIN international carbon fiber wing, and I begun to cry just a smidge.

Has anyone had any experiences repairing or improving on a carbon fiber crack/split?

in before totaled :popcorn:


In all honesty I don't think you can just repair it, but I am no expert so lets see what others have to say.

How bad is the damage? Share some photos. I have seen some pretty good carbon fiber repair jobs.

seal the crack/damaged area and paint it.
If you want it clear so you can see the carbon fiber that will be a way harder repair to hide the damage.

CF as you and I know it cannot be "repaired", because it is often a CF panel with a fiberglass or clear coat overlay.

If you just damaged the fiberglass or clear coat, you should repair it in the same way.

True CF cannot be repaired, only replaced.

-alex

Any pics? Either you sand it down and reapply a new layer of resin or its totaled.

I've heard of people repairing carbon fiber, saw one guy repair a crack in a bicycle frame on line himself. I'd be a bit wary of something like that, but a spoiler isn't terribly structural so I'd think it can be done. It should be pretty close to repairing fiberglass. If its visible weave though, it won't look the same.

It can be repaired, but if you started with an "A-Grade" surface, you will never get it back.

Working on CF is nearly identical to fiberglass, just with different materials.
A fender or hood would be relatively easy, but since the wing is a closed surface, not easy at all.

Need to see pics of the damage.

Since its just a wing (we all know it's 95% cosmetic) you could repair it. I would go with an epoxy bond. Then blend it flush. Then if it looks like a bondo job, I would wrap it with a cf look. Or paint the whole thing. Then again...... Pics would help to determine your options.

Carbon fiber can be repaired structurally and is done all the time in the bike industry and aviation. Depending on how it is damaged, basically you grind away the damage area and feather it out. Then cut patches, each one larger than there one before to cover the areas ground away. Then epoxy the layers in place, preferably vacuum bagged. After it cures, sand smooth and reapply the finish.

@retoocs has the right idea for structural repair, that's basically how it's done.
@_frs I do aviation composite repair and a buddy I work with does carbon bicycle frame repair on the side with some really impressive results cosmetically. Send me a PM for email contact (or post pics) and I'll see if it's something we can do.