INORGANIC FIBRES

Introduction

Inorganic fibers, both metal and non metal ones, are more resistant, more rigid, have an higher melting point and are more heat resistant than traditional fibers.

They are also totally uninflammable, but, except for the metal ones, they are fragile. Their textile importance is also limited, whereas they are widely used as reinforcement in composite materials.

They are usually excellent in high temperatures and in a corrosive surrounding.

Real fibers with an area transversal section lower than 0,005 mm2 and a thickness lower than 0,25 mm are carried out. We can get them as wiskers (= mono crystalline materials) and as real fibers, both continuous and cut in cluster.

Their diameter changes from 5 to 15 nm, but other ones are much thicker, like the ones got through vapor deposition on the fibers, such as borate fibers and silicon carbide fibers (100-150 n).

The diameter of the fiber is critical compared to its resistance: like all fragile materials their resistance increases when their transversal size reduces. Fibers in cluster can be produced directly or through the cutting of continuous filaments.

GLASS FIBERS

Ancient Egyptians made containers of coarse fibers drawn from heat softened glass. The French scientist, Reaumur, considered the potential of forming fine glass fibers for woven glass articles as early as the 18th century. Continuous glass fibers -1930s Raw materials such as silicates, soda, Clay limestone, boric acid, fluorspar or various metallic oxides are blended to form a glass batch which is melted in a furnace.

The molten glass flows to platinum/ rhodium alloy bushings and then through individual bushing tips and orifices ranging from 0.76 to 2.03 mm (0.030 to 0.080 in) and is rapidly quenched and attenuated in air (to prevent crystallization) into fine fibers ranging from 3 to 35 m. Mechanical winders pull the fibers at lineal velocities up to 61 m/s over an applicator which coats the fibers with an appropriate chemical sizing to aid further processing and performance of the end products. High strength glass fibers like S-2 Glass are compositions of alumino silicates attenuated at higher temperatures into fine fibers ranging from 5 to 24 m.

Types of Glass Fibers

A GLASS Soda lime silicate glasses used where the strength, durability, and good electrical resistivity of E Glass are not required. C GLASS Calcium borosilicate glasses used for their chemical stability in corrosive acid environments. D GLASS Borosilicate glasses with a low dielectric constant for electrical applications. E GLASS Alumina-calcium-borosilicate glasses with a maximum alkali content of 2 wt. % used as general purpose fibers where strength and high electrical resistivity are required.

ECRGLASS Calcium alumino silicate glasses with a maximum alkali content of 2 wt. % used where strength, electrical resistivity, and acid corrosion resistance are desired. AR GLASS Alkali resistant glasses composed of alkali zirconium silicates used in cement substrates and concrete. R GLASS Calcium alumino silicate glasses used for reinforcement where added strength and acid corrosion resistance are required. S-2 GLASS Magnesium alumino silicate glasses used for textile substrates or reinforcement in composite structural applications which require high strength, modulus, and stability under extreme temperature and corrosive environments.

Glass Fiber Manufacturing

Glass fiber manufacturing is the high-temperature conversion of various raw materials (predominantly boro silicates) into a homogeneous melt, followed by the fabrication of this melt into glass fibers. Glass fiber production can be segmented into 3 phases: Raw materials handling, Glass melting and refining, and Textile and wool glass fiber production. Raw Materials Handling The primary component of glass fiber is sand, but it also includes varying quantities of feldspar, sodium sulfate, anhydrous borax, boric acid, and many other materials.

The materials are weighed according to the desired product recipe and then blended well before their introduction into the melting unit. The weighing, mixing, and charging operations may be conducted in either batch or continuous mode. Glass Melting and Refining In the glass melting furnace, the raw materials are heated to temperatures ranging from 1500 to 1700C (2700 to 3100F) and are transformed through a sequence of chemical reactions to molten glass. In operation, raw materials are introduced continuously on top of a bed of molten glass, where they slowly mix and dissolve. Mixing is effected by natural convection, gases rising from chemical reactions, and, in some operations, by air injection into the bottom of the bed.

Glass melting furnaces can be categorized by their fuel source and method of heat application into 4 types: Recuperative, Regenerative, unit, and Electric melter. Regenerative furnaces use a lattice of brickwork to recover waste heat from exhaust gases. In the initial mode of operation, hot exhaust gases are routed through a chamber containing a brickwork lattice, while combustion air is heated by passage through another corresponding brickwork lattice. About every 20 minutes, the airflow is reversed, so that the combustion air is always being passed through hot brickwork previously heated by exhaust gases.

Electric furnaces are either hot-top or cold-top.

Electric furnaces are currently used only for wool glass fiber production because of the electrical properties of the glass formulation. Unit melters are used only for the "indirect" marble melting process, getting raw materials from a continuous screw at the back of the furnace adjacent to the exhaust air discharge.

In the "indirect" melting process, molten glass passes to a forehearth, where it is drawn off, sheared into globs, and formed into marbles by roll-forming. The marbles are then stress-relieved in annealing ovens, cooled, and conveyed to storage or to other plants for later use. In the "direct" glass fiber process, molten glass passes from the furnace into a refining unit, where bubbles and particles are removed by settling, and the melt is allowed to cool to the proper viscosity for the fiber forming operation.

Glass Fiber Production Process.

Textile Glass Fiber Forming and Finishing

Molten glass from either the direct melting furnace or the indirect marble melting furnace is temperature-regulated to a precise viscosity and delivered to forming stations. At the forming stations, the molten glass is forced through heated platinum bushings containing numerous very small openings. The continuous fibers emerging from the openings are drawn over a roller applicator, which applies a coating of a water-soluble sizing and/or coupling agent. The coated fibers are gathered and wound into a spindle. The spindles of glass fibers are next conveyed to a drying oven, where moisture is removed from the sizing and coupling agents. The spindles are then sent to an oven to cure the coatings. The final fabrication includes twisting, chopping, weaving, and packaging the fiber.

Glass fiber manufacture both staple fiber and continuous filament process

Physical properties of glass fibers

Chemical properties of Glass fibers

Effect of acids: Excellent resistance to organic and inorganic acids. Effect of alkalis: Good to fair resistance Effect of sunlight: Poor Resistance. Effect of Dyeability: Poor Dyeabilty Effect of heat and thermal insulation properties: Excellent to Good resistance. Effect of mildew: Good resistance for long time. Effect of electrical conductivity: Poor conductor of electricity. Effect of corrosion resistance: Excellent resistance to corrosion.

USES

Sports cars, micro cars, karts, body shells, boats, flat roofs, lorries, wind turbine blades. Minesweeper hulls Pods, domes and architectural features where a light weight is necessary. Bodies for automobiles body. FRP tanks and vessels: FRP is used extensively to manufacture chemical equipments and tanks and vessels. UHF-broadcasting antennas are often mounted inside a fiberglass cylinder on the pinnacle of a broadcasting tower Most commercial Velomobiles Large Commercial Wind Turbine Blades