Fiberglass
The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth.
Cheaper and more flexible than carbon fiber, it is stronger than many metals by weight, non-magnetic, non-conductive, transparent to electromagnetic radiation, can be molded into complex shapes, and is chemically inert under many circumstances.
Applications include aircraft, boats, automobiles, bath tubs and enclosures, swimming pools, hot tubs, septic tanks, water tanks, roofing, pipes, cladding, orthopedic casts, surfboards, and external door skins.
Glass fibers have been produced for centuries, but the earliest patent was awarded to the Prussian inventor Hermann Hammesfahr (1845–1914) in the U.S. in 1880.
Originally, Fiberglas was a glass wool with fibers entrapping a great deal of gas, making it useful as an insulator, especially at high temperatures.
This reduced the insulation properties to values typical of the plastic, but now for the first time, the composite showed great strength and promise as a structural and building material.
Ray Greene of Owens Corning is credited with producing the first composite boat in 1937 but did not proceed further at the time because of the brittle nature of the plastic used.
In 1939 the Soviet Union was reported to have constructed a passenger boat of plastic materials, and the United States a fuselage and wings of an aircraft.
The manufacturing process for glass fibers suitable for reinforcement uses large furnaces to gradually melt the silica sand, limestone, kaolin clay, fluorspar, colemanite, dolomite and other minerals until a liquid forms.
In fiberglass, it is the plastic matrix which permanently constrains the structural glass fibers to directions chosen by the designer.
A fiberglass component is typically of a thin "shell" construction, sometimes filled on the inside with structural foam, as in the case of surfboards.
The mechanical functionality of materials is heavily reliant on the combined performances of both the resin (AKA matrix) and fibers.
While this distortion can be minimized by symmetric use of the fibers in the design, a certain amount of internal stress is created; and if it becomes too great, cracks form.
Advanced manufacturing techniques such as pre-pregs and fiber rovings extend fiberglass's applications and the tensile strength possible with fiber-reinforced plastics.
Fiberglass is also used in the telecommunications industry for shrouding antennas, due to its RF permeability and low signal attenuation properties.
The material's reduced weight and easier handling, compared to wood or metal, allows faster installation.
Mass-produced fiberglass brick-effect panels can be used in the construction of composite housing, and can include insulation to reduce heat loss.
As of 2022, boats continue to be made with fiberglass, though more advanced techniques such as vacuum bag moulding are used in the construction process.
[21] Though most bullet-resistant armours are made using different textiles, fiberglass composites have been shown to be effective as ballistic armor.
[22] Filament winding is a fabrication technique mainly used for manufacturing open (cylinders) or closed-end structures (pressure vessels or tanks).
The mandrel rotates while a wind eye on a carriage moves horizontally, laying down fibers in the desired pattern.
Filament winding is well suited to automation, and there are many applications, such as pipe and small pressure vessels that are wound and cured without any human intervention.
Products currently being produced using this technique range from pipes, golf clubs, Reverse Osmosis Membrane Housings, oars, bicycle forks, bicycle rims, power and transmission poles, pressure vessels to missile casings, aircraft fuselages and lamp posts and yacht masts.
Hand pressure, vacuum or rollers are used to be sure the resin saturates and fully wets all layers, and that any air pockets are removed.
Hence, symptoms can include itchy eyes, skin, nose, sore throat, hoarseness, dyspnea (breathing difficulty) and cough.
"[30] In June 2011, the US National Toxicology Program (NTP) removed from its Report on Carcinogens all biosoluble glass wool used in home and building insulation and for non-insulation products.
[29] Similarly, California's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) published a November, 2011 modification to its Proposition 65 listing to include only "Glass wool fibers (inhalable and biopersistent).
"[32] Therefore a cancer warning label for biosoluble fiber glass home and building insulation is no longer required under federal or California law.
[30] A 2012 health hazard review for the European Commission stated that inhalation of fiberglass at concentrations of 3, 16 and 30 mg/m3 "did not induce fibrosis nor tumours except transient lung inflammation that disappeared after a post-exposure recovery period.
[38] which reached the same conclusion as IARC that there is no evidence of increased risk from occupational exposure to glass wool fibers.
