

Mass production of glass strands was accidentally discovered in 1932 when Games Slayter, a researcher at Owens-Illinois, directed a jet of compressed air at a stream of molten glass and produced fibers. 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. 4.3 Oil and gas artificial lift systems.3.2 Table of some common fiberglass types.This article will adopt the convention that "fiberglass" refers to the complete fiber-reinforced composite material, rather than only to the glass fiber within it. Because glass fiber itself is sometimes referred to as "fiberglass", the composite is also called fiberglass-reinforced plastic ( FRP). Other common names for fiberglass are glass-reinforced plastic ( GRP), glass-fiber reinforced plastic ( GFRP) or GFK (from German: Glasfaserverstärkter Kunststoff). 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. The plastic matrix may be a thermoset polymer matrix-most often based on thermosetting polymers such as epoxy, polyester resin, or vinyl ester resin-or a thermoplastic.Ĭheaper and more flexible than carbon fiber, it is stronger than many metals by weight, is non- magnetic, non- conductive, transparent to electromagnetic radiation, can be molded into complex shapes, and is chemically inert under many circumstances. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet (called a chopped strand mat), or woven into glass cloth. For similar composite materials in which the reinforcement fiber is carbon fibers, see carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer.įiberglass ( American English), or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English), is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. For the glass fiber itself, also sometimes called fiberglass, see glass fiber. For the thermal insulation material sometimes called fiberglass, see glass wool.

This article is about the type of composite material.
