Fiberglass
Fiberglass is a composite material made from fine, flexible glass fibers that are drawn from molten glass. This process typically involves melting glass in an electric furnace, forming it into marbles, and then continuously drawing fibers through platinum holes. The resulting fibers can be extremely fine, with diameters ranging from 0.00025 to 0.00125 centimeters. A standard type of fiberglass, known as E glass, consists predominantly of silica and is valued for its strength and durability. Historically, fiberglass has been utilized since ancient times for decorative purposes and gained prominence in the 20th century, particularly during World War I as a substitute for asbestos.
Today, fiberglass serves a wide range of applications, including thermal insulation in buildings and appliances, and is often combined with plastic polymers to create lightweight, durable components for automotive and marine industries. Moreover, fiberglass is woven into various fabrics and materials for use in safety products, electrical insulation, and even decorative items. Its versatility and resilience make fiberglass an essential material in modern manufacturing and construction.
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Fiberglass
Fiberglass has many practical uses, especially in structural applications and insulation, because its fibers are stronger than steel and will not burn, stretch, rot, or fade.
Definition
Fiberglass consists of fine, flexible glass filaments or fibers drawn or blown directly from a glass melt. These fibers may be many times finer than human hair.
Overview
Fiberglass is typically made in a two-stage process. Glass is first melted and formed into marbles in an electric furnace, and then fibers are drawn continuously through holes in a platinum bushing and wound onto a revolving drum like threads on spools. The drum can pull out more than 3 kilometers of fibers in a minute, and up to 153 kilometers of fiber can be drawn from one glass marble that is 1.6 centimeters in diameter. For a given set of operating conditions, the size of the fibers is uniform, with diameters varying from approximately 0.00025 centimeter to 0.00125 centimeter, depending on the application. Some ultrafine fibers have diameters of 0.0000762 centimeter or less. A typical composition of fiberglass (E glass) is 54 percent silica, 15 percent alumina, 16 percent calcia, 9.5 percent boron oxide, 5 percent magnesia, and 0.5 percent sodium by weight. Because of its low alkali (sodium) content, this type of fiberglass has good durability and strength, and because of the boron, it can be melted at reasonably low temperatures.
Coarse glass fibers were used by the ancient Egyptians to decorate dishes, cups, bottles, and vases. At the Columbian Exposition in Chicago in 1893, Edward Drummond Libbey exhibited a dress made of fiberglass and silk. During World War I (1914-1918), the Germans produced fiberglass in small diameters as a substitute for asbestos. In 1938, the Owens-Corning Fiberglass Corporation was formed in the United States, and fiberglass production was soon started on a commercial scale.
Fiberglass wool, made of loosely intertwined strands of glass with air pockets in between, is an excellent insulator against heat and cold. It is used as a thermal insulator in the exterior walls and ceilings of homes and other buildings, as a thermal and electrical insulator in furnaces, ovens, water heaters, refrigerators, and freezers, and as a thermal and sound insulator in airplanes. Fiberglass is commonly combined with plastic polymers to produce laminates that can be formed into complex shapes for use in automobile and truck bodies, boats, carport roofs, swimming pool covers, and other items requiring light weight, strength, and corrosion resistance. In addition, fiberglass is woven into a variety of fabrics, tapes, braids, and cords for use in shower curtains, fireproof draperies, and electrical insulation of wire and cable in electric motors, generators, transformers, meters, and electronic equipment.
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