I’m still farily new to composites so feel free to let me know if this is a stupid question, but I know there are some aerospace and formula 1 racing applications where composites are exposed to very high temperatures.
I am trying to find an alternative to stainless exhaust pipes on my motorcycle and I am just amazed that I can find no ultra high temp resins capable of withstanding 1200 F. Any ideas or am I just SOL?
There are many resins available but … The question is how you would cure it without special machinery I would think.
Why not go with titanium?
Starfire resins for example. But about 2000$/kg. I would prefer inconel.
I’ve only messed with resins that cure at room temp, but I would imagine if you needed to cure something at, say, 1,000 F, a pottery kiln would work perfectly.
The reason I wanted to get away from metal is due to the fabrication process. I don’t have tubing benders or a TIG welder, and plugs for composites can be made via a number of easy-to-work methods.
The whole point is that hydrocarbon based resins (about all we use) are falling apart at 600-700 degrees F or so. So the only other options are metals or ceramics.
yeah, i’m finding that metal is about the only option. ceramics are too brittle, in addition to being heavy.
You want to make actual composite exhaust pipes? I’ve got to ask - is there a particular reason?
Also would it help to keep the stainless or go to titanium headers with the rest being composite? The headers would have to take most of the heat?
I was looking to make a full exhaust system that didn’t require a tubing bender and tig welder.
The only alternative that I’ve found is CMC, ceramic matrix composites. It seems like a carbon weave that has metal and ceramics metled and infused into it. They use it on rocket thruster cones and stuff.
There’s not much information on the manufacture of it so I assume it would be a specialized method that the average dude would have a hard time doing in his shed.
I guess sometimes you’ve just gotta take a step back and think that a tube bender and TIG welder would be much more simple than all the tooling required for a composite part. 
And cheaper when you factor in labour costs.