Which is a better fit for your needs: carbon fiber or glass fiber?
Performance of Epoxy Resin-Glass Fiber Composite Reinforcement
1. Glass Fiber Characteristics
Glass fiber is made from glass through high-temperature melting, drawing, and winding processes. Besides possessing excellent mechanical properties such as high tensile strength and impact resistance, glass fiber is also an excellent electrical insulation material and an industrial anti-corrosion and moisture-proof material, widely used for reinforcing concrete and cement products.
2. Epoxy Resin Characteristics
After curing, epoxy resin exhibits excellent physical and chemical properties, including excellent dielectric properties, dimensional stability, low shrinkage, high hardness, and flexibility, and good resistance to alkalis and most solvents. Its strong bonding ability also helps to improve the interfacial bond strength between the composite reinforcement and concrete.
3. Epoxy Resin-Glass Fiber Composite Reinforcement
The tensile strength of epoxy resin-glass fiber composite reinforcement can reach more than twice that of ordinary steel bars of the same specification, and its density ranges from 1.9 to 2.2 g/cm³, approximately one-quarter that of steel bars. This provides significant advantages in reducing structural weight and facilitating transportation and installation. This composite reinforcement exhibits no significant plastic deformation even when reaching its tensile strength limit, and is easy to cut on-site, adapting to the needs of non-standard components. Its coefficient of thermal expansion is close to that of concrete, it has strong bond strength, excellent chemical corrosion resistance, and is suitable for harsh environments such as humidity and acid/alkali conditions, with a service life significantly superior to traditional steel reinforcement.
Epoxy Resin Glass Fiber Composite Reinforcement Production Process
Epoxy resin glass fiber composite reinforcement uses glass fiber as the reinforcing material and epoxy resin as the matrix, supplemented with various functional additives. It is manufactured through processes such as yarn drawing, resin impregnation, circumferential winding, preforming, curing, and cutting. Furthermore, by adding specific fillers, the adhesion, mechanical strength, wear resistance, and thermal conductivity of the composite reinforcement can be controlled.
Glass Fiber Composite Reinforcement Product Production Flow: Yarn drawing via yarn rack and yarn arranger → Epoxy resin impregnation → Circumferential fiber winding preforming → Infrared high-temperature curing → Cutting → Finished composite reinforcement product.
Applications of Epoxy Resin Glass Fiber Composite Reinforcement
1. Subway Tunnel Engineering: Glass fiber composite reinforcement has a coefficient of thermal expansion close to that of concrete, good bonding performance, and low shear strength, making it easy to cut by tunnel boring machines (TBMs). Therefore, it can replace steel reinforcement in subway tunnel shaft retaining structures, reducing manual cutting operations, lowering TBM cutterhead wear, improving construction efficiency and safety, and achieving good economic benefits.
2. Rock and Soil Anchor Support: Glass fiber composite reinforcement has high tensile strength and excellent corrosion resistance, making it suitable for rock and soil anchor support engineering. It has been widely used in highway tunnels and slope engineering abroad, such as in tunnel and slope projects in Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy. This material can effectively solve the problem of fracture caused by corrosion of traditional steel anchors, significantly extending the service life of the project.
3. Concrete Pavement Engineering: Glass fiber composite reinforcement has high strength, good durability, and strong integrity, and can be used in "continuously reinforced concrete pavements" to avoid steel corrosion and crack propagation caused by rainwater infiltration. Its coefficient of thermal expansion is close to that of concrete, which can reduce pavement cracking caused by temperature stress, improving road performance and service life. In summary, epoxy resin-glass fiber composite reinforcement fully leverages the synergistic reinforcing effect of epoxy resin and glass fiber, possessing advantages such as lightweight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and convenient construction. It has gradually replaced steel bars in concrete structures such as tunnels, roads, and bridges, demonstrating good technical and economic benefits and promotional value, and playing a positive role in improving the durability and sustainable development of building engineering.