Glass fiber is generally used as a reinforcing material, electrical insulation material, and thermal insulation material in composite materials. So what are the main characteristics of glass fiber? What is its main raw material?
Characteristics of glass fiber
Glass fiber is higher in temperature resistance than organic fiber, non-flammable, corrosion-resistant, heat-insulating, and sound-insulating, with high tensile strength and good electrical insulation. But it is brittle has poor wear resistance, and is used to make reinforced plastics or reinforced rubber.
As a reinforcing material, glass fiber has the following characteristics, which make it more widely used than other types of fibers, and its development speed is also far ahead.
Its characteristics are listed as follows:
1. High tensile strength and small elongation (3%)
2. High elastic modulus and good rigidity
3. Large elongation within the elastic limit and high tensile strength, so it absorbs a lot of impact energy
4. It is an inorganic fiber, non-flammable, and has good chemical resistance
5. Low water absorption
6. Dimensional stability and heat resistance are both good
7. Good processability, can be made into products in different forms such as strands, bundles, felts, and fabrics
8. Transparent and can transmit light
9. The development of surface treatment agents with good adhesion to resins has been completed
10. Low price
11. Not easy to burn, can be melted into glass beads at high temperature
What are the main raw materials of glass fiber?
Quartz sand, alumina, pyrophyllite, limestone, dolomite, boric acid, soda ash, mirabilite, fluorite, etc. The production methods are roughly divided into two categories:
One is to directly make molten glass into fibers; the other is to first make molten glass into glass balls or rods with a diameter of 20mm, and then heat and remelt them in various ways to make very fine fibers with a diameter of 3 to 80μm.
The infinitely long fibers drawn by mechanical drawing through platinum alloy plates are called continuous glass fibers, commonly known as long fibers. Discontinuous fibers made by rollers or airflow are called fixed-length glass fibers, commonly known as short fibers.