Originally posted by Hyperform Racing
Cost, it's all about cost. If I told you what AE pays for one of their L4 chassis, you would cry. The majority of manufacturers use bi-directional which is one of the cheapest carbon fiber plates available. That woven layer is just on the top and bottom for looks. I searched around for a while and the best I could find was four directional quasi-isotropic plate. It's far stiffer and although it's significantly more expensive, I'll be using it on our 12th scale and fk05 carpet cnversion.
Hyperform
Agreed the plain woven are exterior "sanding plies". It appears they are using unidirectional interior plies. However it seems they are not accomplishing the plate in one shot. Rather stacking several previously cured 2 ply (?) plates and bonding with possibly a prepreg scrim.
I suppose with all the plies on the oem L4 it too is quasi-isotropic.
I also searched around for fabric to use as chassis material and fabricated a Quasi-isotropic plate. I used 4HS weave for all plies. Time will tell if I made good choices.
The first plate was a Carbon-blue kevlar outer ply with a non quasi-isotropic center plies. Didn't cut it as it seemed too soft.
PK