The main purpose of carbon fiber sandwich foam is to compound with resin, metal, ceramic and other matrix to make structural material. Carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin composite materials have higher specific strength and specific modulus comprehensive indexes among existing structural materials. In the fields with strict requirements such as density, stiffness, weight, fatigue characteristics, etc., in the occasions requiring high temperature and high chemical stability, carbon fiber sandwich foam has advantages.

Carbon fiber was produced in the early 1950s in response to the needs of cutting-edge science and technology such as rockets, aerospace and aviation, and is also widely used in sports equipment, textiles, chemical machinery and medicine. With the increasingly stringent requirements of cutting-edge technology on the technical performance of new materials, scientific and technological workers are constantly striving to improve. In the early 1980s, high-performance and ultra-high-performance carbon fibers appeared one after another, which was another leap in technology, and also marked that the research and production of carbon fibers had entered an advanced stage.

The composite material composed of carbon fiber and epoxy resin has become an aerospace material due to its small specific gravity, good rigidity and high strength. Because every kilogram of the weight of the space vehicle is reduced, the launch vehicle can be reduced by 500 kilograms. Therefore, there is a race to adopt advanced composite materials in the aerospace industry. There is a vertical take-off and landing fighter, and the carbon fiber composite material used in it has accounted for 1/4 of the weight of the whole aircraft and 1/3 of the weight of the wing.

According to reports, the key components of the three rocket thrusters on the US space shuttle, as well as the MX missile launch tube, are all made of advanced carbon fiber composite materials. F1 (World Formula One Championship) racing car, most of the body structure is made of carbon fiber materials. A big selling point of the top sports car is the use of carbon fiber all over the body to improve aerodynamics and structural strength.

Carbon fibers can be processed into fabrics, felts, mats, belts, paper and other materials. In traditional use, carbon fiber is generally not used alone except as a thermal insulation material, and is mostly added to resin, metal, ceramic, concrete and other materials as a reinforcing material to form a composite material. Carbon fiber reinforced composite materials can be used as aircraft structural materials, electromagnetic shielding and antistatic materials, artificial ligaments and other body substitute materials, as well as in the manufacture of rocket casings, motor boats, industrial robots, automotive leaf springs and drive shafts, etc.