What is glass fiber?

Glass fiber is an inorganic non-metallic engineering material with excellent performance. It has multiple advantages. The advantages are good insulation, strong heat resistance, good corrosion resistance and high mechanical strength. Glass fiber has excellent properties such as non-combustibility, corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, low moisture absorption, and low elongation. It also has excellent characteristics in electrical, mechanical, chemical and other aspects.

After years of development, Chinese glass fiber enterprises have reached the upstream level of product quality, and the proportion of deep-processed products has increased year by year. After more than 50 years of development, China's glass fiber has become quite large. After the average annual growth rate in recent years exceeds 20%, it is expected to occupy more than 60% of the global share.

Composition of glass fiber

It uses pyrophyllite, quartz sand, limestone, dolomite, boronite and boronite as raw materials, and is made by high-temperature melting, stretching, winding, weaving and other processes. Its monofilament diameter is from a few microns to more than twenty microns, which is equivalent to 1/20-1/5 of a hair bundle, and each fiber bundle is composed of hundreds or even thousands of monofilaments.

Generally, fiberglass can be made of various colors of waste glass through a series of glass fiber equipment processing. Its properties and uses are very wide. The product is as thin as silk, soft as cotton, strong in tensile strength, silver-white in color, and non-toxic. It is odorless, acid-resistant, alkali-resistant, corrosion-resistant, high-temperature resistant, and has good insulation properties. It is widely used in building materials, petroleum and chemical insulation materials, especially the main material for the development of glass fiber reinforced plastic.

The density of glass fibers mainly depends on the glass composition. Certain special glass fibers, such as quartz glass fiber, high silica glass fiber and low dielectric glass fiber, have lower density.

Properties of glass fiber

Melting point glass is an amorphous quality. It has no fixed melting point. It is generally considered that its softening point is 500 to 750°C and its boiling point is 1000°C.

Generally, the fiberglass has a smooth cylindrical appearance and a complete circle in cross section. This is due to the fact that the molten glass shrinks into a small circle with a small surface area under the action of surface tension before the molten glass is drawn and cooled into a solid fiber during the molding process. It is different from the organic fiber because the surface of the organic fiber is smooth, so the cohesive force between the fibers is very small. It is not high in papermaking strength, but as a filter material, the resistance to gas and liquid passage is also low. The density of glass fiber is higher than that of organic fiber, but the ratio is higher. Most metals are roughly similar to aluminum.

The density of glass fibers is higher than that of organic fibers, but lower than most metals, which are roughly similar to aluminum. The density of glass fiber is usually around 2.50~2.70g/cm³, which mainly depends on the composition of the glass. Our special glass fibers, such as quartz glass fiber, high-silica glass fiber and low-dielectric glass fiber, have a lower density, only 2.0~2. The density of 20g/cm³ and high modulus glass fiber can reach 2.07~2. 90g /cm³.

When glass fiber is used as a reinforcing material for reinforced plastics, the biggest feature is its high tensile strength. The tensile strength in the standard state is 6.3~6.9g/d, and the tensile strength in the wet state is 5.4~5.8g/d. The density is 2.54g/cm3. Good heat resistance, no effect on strength when the temperature reaches 300℃. It has excellent electrical insulation and is a high-grade electrical insulation material. It is also used as an insulation material and fireproof material. Usually only corroded by concentrated alkali, hydrofluoric acid and concentrated phosphoric acid.

Application of glass fiber

Glass fiber is a good substitute for metal materials. With the rapid development of the market economy, glass fiber has become an indispensable raw material for construction, transportation, electronics, electrical, chemical, metallurgy, environmental protection, national defense and other industries. 

For example, our products: fire shutter door fabric, automotive fiberglass fabrics, architectural fiberglass mesh fabrics, transformer epoxy mesh fabrics, aluminum, steel, iron filter mesh fabrics, fireproof blankets, welding blankets, construction membranes, sound-absorbing materials, etc. Our company also researches special glass fiber. This feature makes the radar wave transmission capability of radome composite materials more and more widely used in defense, aircraft, meteorology and other fields. Glass fiber itself has good insulation, high temperature resistance and good corrosion resistance, and is also used by 3d printing technology. Since glass fiber has been widely used in many fields, it has attracted more and more attention.