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Carbon fiber, or simply carbon for short, goes by many different names and acronyms: carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CRP) or carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP). It is a composite material, a type of a fiber-reinforced plastic, and it is used in industries and areas whose products demand high levels of strength-to-weight ratio. This means that carbon fiber is extremely light but at the same time extremely strong, rigid and durable. Some of the areas and industries where those characteristics and features are very needed and sought after are aerospace, civil engineering, automotive, marine, construction, and many others are also starting to discover the good, useful and attractive uses of carbon fiber.
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Matthew L. Smith (2017) studied this question.
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