Glass fiber

Fiberglass, a superior inorganic non-metallic material, boasts a wide variety of types. Its advantages include excellent insulation, strong heat resistance, good corrosion resistance, and high mechanical strength. However, it has the drawback of brittleness and poor wear resistance. It is produced from six types of ores, including serpentine, quartz sand, limestone, dolomite, borax, and magnesite, through processes like high-temperature melting, fiber drawing, yarn spinning, and weaving. The diameter of a single fiber ranges from a few micrometers to more than twenty, which is equivalent to 1/20 to 1/5 of a human hair. Each bundle of fiber yarn is composed of hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of these single fibers. Fiberglass is commonly used as reinforcing material in composites, electrical insulation materials, thermal insulation materials, circuit boards, and various other fields of the national economy.

Glass fiber, when used as a reinforcing material for plastics, boasts high tensile strength. The tensile strength is 6.3 to 6.9 g/d in standard conditions and 5.4 to 5.8 g/d in a wet state. It has excellent heat resistance, with no impact on strength at temperatures up to 300°C. It possesses superior electrical insulation properties, making it a high-grade electrical insulation material. It is also used in thermal insulation and fire shielding materials. Generally, it is only corroded by concentrated alkalis, hydrofluoric acid, and concentrated phosphoric acid.