A fiberglass is a form of fiber-reinforced plastic where glass fiber is the reinforced plastic. This is the reason perhaps why fiberglass is also known as glass reinforced plastic or glass fiber reinforced plastic. The glass fiber is usually flattened into a sheet, randomly arranged or woven into a fabric. According to the use of the fiberglass, the glass fibers can be made of different types of glass.
Fiberglass is lightweight, strong and less brittle. The best part of fiberglass is its ability to get molded into various complex shapes. This pretty much explains why fiberglass is widely used in bathtubs, boats, aircraft, roofing, and other applications.
In this article, we’ll talk more about the types of fiberglass, along with their properties and applications. Let’s get started.
Types and forms of fiberglass:
Depending on the raw materials used and their proportions to make fiberglass, fiberglass can be classified into following major types:
A-glass: A glass is also called as alkali glass and is resistant to chemicals. Due to the composition of A glass fiber, it is close to window glass. In some parts of the world, it is used to make process equipment.
C-glass: C-glass offers very good resistance to chemical impact and is also called as chemical glass.
E-glass: It is also called as electrical glass and is a very good insulator of electricity.
AE-glass: This is alkali resistant glass.
S glass: It is also called as structural glass and is known for its mechanical properties.
Fiberglass comes in various forms to suite various applications, the major ones being:
Fiberglass Tape: Fiberglass tapes are made up of glass fiber yarns and are known for their thermal insulation properties. This form of fiberglass finds wide applications in wrapping vessels, hot pipelines, and the likes.
Fiberglass Cloth: Fiberglass cloth is smooth and is available in various variants like glass fiber yarns and glass filament yarns. It is widely used as heat shields, in fire curtains and others.
Fiberglass Rope: Ropes are braided from glass fiber yarns and are used for packing purposes.
Properties of fiberglass
Mechanical strength: Fiberglass has a specific resistance greater than steel. So, it is used to make high-performance
Electrical characteristics: Fiberglass is a good electrical insulator even at low thickness.
Incombustibility: Since fiberglass is a mineral material, it is naturally incombustible. It does not propagate or support a flame. It does not emit smoke or toxic products when exposed to heat.
Dimensional stability: Fiberglass is not sensitive to variations in temperature and hygrometry. It has a low coefficient of linear expansion.
Compatibility with organic matrices: Fiberglass can have varying sizes and has the ability to combine with many synthetic resins and certain mineral matrices like cement.
Non-rotting: Fiberglass does not rot and remains unaffected by the action of rodents and insects.
Thermal conductivity: Fiberglass has low thermal conductivity making it highly useful in the building industry.
Dielectric permeability: This property of fiberglass makes it suitable for electromagnetic windows.
