Ya know, I was just thinking ... I believe I read somewhere that for every pound off the crank, is 2 horsepower ...
What if we took the AFX under drive pulley and sent it off to be made out of Carbon fiber ... I mean, if they can make a 30lbs hood weigh 7 pounds in carbon fiber and it's extremely durable...
Imagine what could be done for a small underdrive pulley?!
#3270, "RE: Underdrive Pulley made in Carbon Fiber?" In response to Reply # 0
I don't think that the carbon fiber will hold up well. The belt running against it one, and the heat and friction will start to burn up the resin...
carbon fiber is just a cloth like material, like kevlar. except that it had resin over it, which makes it hard...kind of like fiber glass, but replace the fiber with carbon...
#3271, "RE: Underdrive Pulley made in Carbon Fiber?" In response to Reply # 0
ya carbon could not be formed into that shape, it would be good if they could though because carbon is a great damper for vibration. One could use a thermoplastic carbon to make the pulley, but i do not think it would hold up to the heat generated by the engine, but hmm One could mold the thermoplastic aroung an aluminum center piece and an aluminum belt track, but then I don't know if you would be gaining anything. As for Thermoset carbon like in hoods, there would be no way to form that into a pulley with grooves for the belts. maybe if one made the pulley in titanium. Now that would be great, titanium has great vibration damping characteristics, and can be made the same strength as the aluminum pulley but with less material and that would provide a significant weight savings and it would be much more durable than the aluminum pulley, man that would be the best all except for the cost which would be like 400 bucks for the Ti one. DOH!
I think the cost versus weight savings wouldn't be worth it over a good aluminum pulley
I wouldn't be confident of the carbon fiber holding up over time with that kind of load on it. But I don't think temperature would be a problem since the carbon fiber is usually cured in an oven at high temperatue, unlike fiberglass and kevlar with a polyester or epoxy resin, which just cures on its own.
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