Materials Codexery

Glass fiber

Fine glass fibers used for insulation and composites.

Last updated

When used in composites, glass fiber is less rigid than carbon fiber but offers cost savings and reduced brittleness.[1] The marine and piping industries employ glass fiber reinforced composites because these materials provide strong environmental resistance, high specific strength, and good impact damage tolerance.[1]

Quick Facts

Type
Material
First mass manufacture enabler
Finer machine tooling
Key modern inventor
Games Slayter
Key company
Owens-Corning Fiberglas Corporation
Common type
E-glass
Thermal conductivity
~0.05 W/(m, K)

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

Pure silica glass fiber must be worked at very high temperatures, so fluxing agents are introduced to lower the melting point.[2] For thousands of years, people in Egypt and Venice have known how to heat glass and draw it into fine fibers.[3] Prior to modern textile uses, glass fiber was only produced as staple, meaning clusters of short fiber lengths.[3] Games Slayter, working at Owens-Illinois, invented glass wool (a product now called "fiberglass") as building insulation between 1932 and 1933.[4]

Slayter submitted a patent application in 1933 for a novel glass wool manufacturing method.[5] E-glass, an alumino-borosilicate glass containing less than 1% alkali oxides, is the predominant glass fiber type used in fiberglass.[6]

What the research sources say

The basis of textile-grade glass fibers is silica, which in its pure form exists as a polymer and has no true melting point but softens up to 1200 °C.[7] Bushings are the major expense in fiber glass production, and the nozzle design is critical, with the number of nozzles ranging from 200 to 4000 in multiples of 200.[8] A 1998 study using rats found that the biopersistence of synthetic fibers after one year was 0.04–13%, but 27% for amosite asbestos.[9] Strength testing of glass fiber is typically performed on "virgin" or pristine fibers, and the strongest fibers are the freshest and thinnest due to their greater ductility.[10]

Tensile strength of glass fiber is significantly affected by humidity levels.[10] Glass fiber can be stretched further before breaking compared to carbon fiber.[11] The bushing plate, constructed from platinum alloyed with rhodium, is the critical component in fiber manufacturing machinery.[12]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sathishkumar, "Glass fiber-reinforced polymer composites – a review", Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites, July 2014, p. 1258–1275 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Fiberglass. Redorbit.com (2014-06-20). Retrieved on 2016-06-02. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Inorganic and Composite Fibers", Elsevier, August 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Slayter patent for glass wool. Application 1933, granted 1938. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Loewenstein, "The Manufacturing Technology of Continuous Glass Fibers", Elsevier Scientific, 1973, p. 2–94; "A Market Assessment and Impact Analysis of the Owens Corning Acquisition of Saint-Gobain's Reinforcement and Composites Business", August 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: E. Fitzer, "Ullmann's Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry", Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2000 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gupta, "Manufactured Fibre Technology", Chapman and Hall, 1997, p. 544–546 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Loewenstein, "The Manufacturing Technology of Continuous Glass Fibers", Elsevier Scientific, 1973, p. 94 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: T. W. Hesterberga, G. Chaseb, C. Axtenc, 1, W. C. Millera, R. P. Musselmand, O. Kamstrupe, J. Hadleyf, C. Morscheidtg, D. M. Bernsteinh and P. Thevenaz, "Biopersistence of Synthetic Vitreous Fibers and Amosite Asbestos i (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Volf, "Technical Approach to Glass", Elsevier, 1990; Gupta, "Manufactured Fibre Technology", Chapman and Hall, 1997, p. 544–546 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Gupta, "Manufactured Fibre Technology", Chapman and Hall, 1997, p. 544–546; Hillermeier KH, Melliand Textilberichte 1/1969, Dortmund-Mengede, pp. 26–28, "Glass fiber—its properties related to the filament fiber diameter". (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Wikipedia, "Glass fiber" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Loewenstein, "The Manufacturing Technology of Continuous Glass Fibers", Elsevier Scientific, 1973, p. 91 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Glass fiber (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

More in Materials

Glass woolKevlarLeatherLinenBorosilicate glassCarbon fiber reinforced polymerCarbon fibersCardboardCork (material)BitumenCoke (fuel)Construction aggregate

Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

Spotted an error? Know more?

Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced

Comments

Loading…
Open in the interactive codex →