As is well known, glass is a substance known for its "brittleness". However, interestingly, once glass is heated and drawn into glass fibers that are much thinner than human hair, it seems to completely forget its "nature" and become as soft as synthetic fibers, with a "soft yet rigid" texture. Its toughness even exceeds that of stainless steel wire of the same thickness!
So, what are the uses of fiberglass?
The glass rope twisted from fiberglass can be called the "king of ropes". A glass rope as thick as a finger can lift a truck full of goods! Due to its resistance to seawater corrosion and rust, glass ropes are suitable for use as ship cables and crane ropes. Although synthetic fiber ropes are strong, they can melt at high temperatures, while glass ropes are not afraid. Therefore, it is particularly safe for firefighters to use glass ropes.
Fiberglass can be woven into various types of glass fabrics - glass cloth - through organization. Glass cloth is not afraid of acid or alkali, so it is ideal for use as a filter cloth in chemical factories. In recent years, many factories have adopted glass cloth instead of cotton cloth and burlap cloth to produce packaging bags. This type of bag is not moldy or rotten, moisture-proof and corrosion-resistant, durable, very popular among people, and can also save a lot of cotton and linen. Glass fiber wall cloth with exquisite patterns, applied with adhesive to the wall, is beautiful and elegant, eliminating the need for painting and maintenance. If it gets dirty, just wipe it with a cloth, and the wall will immediately become clean again.
Glass fiber is both insulating and heat-resistant, making it an excellent insulation material. At present, most motor and electrical factories in China have extensively used glass fiber as insulation material. A 6000 kW steam turbine generator, with over 1800 insulation components made of fiberglass! Due to the use of glass fiber as insulation material, the performance of the motor has been improved, the volume of the motor has been reduced, and the cost of the motor has been lowered. It is truly a win-win situation.
Another important use of fiberglass is to collaborate with materials such as resins to manufacture various fiberglass composite materials. For example, by immersing layers of glass cloth in hot melt resin material and pressing it into shape, it becomes the famous "fiberglass". Fiberglass is even tougher than steel, neither rusting nor corrosion resistant, and weighs only a quarter of the same volume as steel. Therefore, using it to manufacture the shells of boats, cars, trains, and machine parts can not only save a lot of steel but also greatly increase the effective load capacity by reducing the weight of the cars and ships themselves. Since it won't rust, it can save a lot of maintenance costs.
If the glass is melted and blown into thin and short fibers using high-speed airflow or flames, it becomes glass wool. There is a type of moisture-proof ultra-fine glass wool, with over 200 strands combined and only as thin as one hair. Glass wool has extremely strong insulation properties. A 3cm thick glass wool can provide insulation equivalent to a 1-meter-thick brick wall! The sound absorption effect of glass wool is also very good. Therefore, it is used as a material for insulation, sound insulation, thermal insulation, shock resistance, and filtration in many industrial sectors.
The fiber endoscope that has emerged in recent years allows doctors to directly observe internal organs such as the stomach, duodenum, and heart. This is also the contribution of fiberglass. When light enters a curved glass fiber from one end of the fiber, it will be fully reflected to the inner surface of the diagonally opposite side when it reaches the inner surface of the fiber. This repeated reflection causes the light to move in a winding manner like a nine curve bridge, finally reaching the other end from one end. Of course, in actual use, tens of thousands of glass fibers are tied together to form a glass fiber rod. To prevent light from leaking between the fiber rods, a layer of low refractive index material is also wrapped around the fiber rods. As long as the glass fibers at both ends are densely arranged in the same order, the optical image can be transmitted from one end to the other without distortion. The lighting adopts an external power supply, and the fiber rod is equipped with a lens at the front end. The new "full view" fiber optic mirror has an observation window that can be viewed forward or rotated to a side view. It can also be equipped with a miniature camera or color TV for teaching or multi person consultations.
In addition, the use of optical fibers made of glass fibers for telephone communication has also achieved complete success. It has a large capacity, minimal transmission loss, is not affected by electromagnetic interference, can save copper metal, and can also transmit images for television and telephone
Optical fiber is a highly pure and transparent glass fiber filament with a diameter of only about 1-100 μ m
There are indeed many uses for glass fiber, and with the rapid development of modern science and technology, glass fiber will make more contributions.
