Carbon fibre reinforced carbon composites form a very specialized group of materials. They may be considered as a development of the family of carbon fibre reinforced polymer composites which are becoming ever more prevalent in modern engineering. Since the early 1960s a large number of so-called 'advanced materials' have appeared on the scene. Carbon~arbon is arguably the most successful of all these products finding many and varied applications. In the field of Formula 1 motor racing for example, the present levels of performance simply could not be achieved without the use of carbon-carbon...