hi all.
im currently building some composite poles for a rather complicated application. anyway, the things are 6 metres long, hexagonal in shape (100mm tall). we currently build them on a roticary, so the pole is turning during layup and as it cures. the former is a peice of foam, lightly reinforced with fibreglass strips. the main composite is uni-directional carbon fibre and epoxy, with some light carbon at 90 degrees.
the question i have is that the weight of the wet carbon causes a noticable sag in the peice, which dissapears as the carbon sets. i didnt think much of it until i went to an (unconnected) lecture on welding and started thinking about grain size.
do you guys think that a flexing set and cure, as is happening with these peices, will adversly affect strength?