Fiberglass is a versatile material with many uses, including:
1. Construction
Fiberglass is lightweight, strong, and can be molded into different shapes, making it ideal for construction, civil engineering, and roofing.
2. Aerospace
Fiberglass is transparent to microwaves, making it a good replacement for molded plywood in aircraft radomes.
Fiberglass is also corrosion-resistant and has a weather-resistant finish. The glass fibers are typically made from silica and other elements like alumina, boron, and calcium. Depending on the type of fiberglass, the strands may also include alkali oxides or other trace molecules. The glass fibers are then embedded in an epoxy matrix and cured to create a strong, lightweight, and flexible composite material. This composite is also known as glass-fiber-reinforced plastic (GFRP). Manufacturers can create different forms of GFRP to achieve specific material properties, such as tensile strength, compression strength, and thermal expansion.
