If you’ve ever wondered just how strong carbon fiber is, this YouTube channel uploaded a video demonstrating its strength.
The Hydraulic Press Channel has uploaded a video comparing various pieces of carbon fiber composites, showing what will happen to one of the strongest man-made materials under immense pressure.
As its name implies, the Hydraulic Press Channel is dedicated to crushing just about everything with a factory grade hydraulic press. It’s run by Finnish factory owner Lauri Vuohensilta, along with his wife Anni. Since launching back in October of 2015, the channel has seen a meteoric rise, with 1.4 million YouTube subscribers. Fans like the hosts for their Finnish accents and their propensity to throw profanities during surprise outcomes.
Gcomposits, a Polish company that specializes in carbon fiber, sent Vuohensilta pieces of material to test out. A few shapes were put under pressure for the video, with varying degrees of success. First was a tube, laid sideways, which unceremoniously flattened out. Next, the man who loves to crush stood a tube up vertically and, under the immense pressure, saw it shatter into black dust. After another, larger tube was slo destroyed beyond recognition, the Finns moved into what they referred to as a “carbon fiber sandwich.” It really was just a brick made of carbon fiber.
Unsurprisingly, the carbon fiber brick fared far better than the hollow tubes. It barely showed any signs of breaking. Vuohensilta then switched it out for a smaller tool with 60% of the surface area of the previous one, increasing its pressure per square inch to almost double. Even then, it barely made a dent. Vuohensilta was still committed to making some kind of mark, and put a large nut (the kind you use for assembling, not eating) in between the press and the brick. Because the surface area of the nut was so much smaller, it finally broke through and lodged itself into the “sandwich.”
