Basalt materials !!

what information is availible and from where about Basalt materials
woven rovings !
unidirectionals !
triaxle !
double bias !
quads !
Aso technical info and compaired to e glass and any and all glass fabrics .
Any one used it what good about it and whats bad !!

 

Im not a glass man myself. I do mess around with boats so tend to collect links when I see something new.

You might review this link and its list of suppliers.

http://www.compositesworld.com/articles/basalt-fibers-alternative-to-glass

 

Thank you !!!

 

When seeking a cloth built to your specs is it common to contact a fabric weaver ? and special order ? or are the cost prohibitively expensive.

 

My admittedly limited understanding of basalt fiber, is it's less than reliable physical properties, because of impurities and density inconsistencies, naturally found in the stones. Simply put, you can have pretty big swings in physical properties from bolt to bolt. It's stronger then E 'glass and not quite a strong as S 'glass and priced in the middle of the two.

 

AAH so that will be why its been slow to get used them ! Last year there was lots of it on display at the shanghai Composties show this year only saw one place selling !!
Its not really that easy to get to much information about !! spent about 4 hours yesterday and just kept going round and round .
I wasnt able to find any glass suppliers with it listed anywhere !!.
Thank you !!

 

I know the USA 'glass manufactures played with it in the late 60's and early 70's thinking it was a cheaper way to produce fabrics, but quality control issues between suppliers and batches of raw materials made them stick with glass. On less critical stuff, it has a place, but on racers, where every ounce and dollar counts, not so much. With most pleasure craft having significant preformance levels, one bad batch of raw materials, incorporated into a dozen 40 knot Bayliners, could kill a company, if not a segment of an industry, so . . .

 

Exactly what my thoughts were about . I will be involved with setting up and making a small range of 6 mtr powerboats purely for export and if the basalt thing could have been a draw card or gimmick i was going to suggest we use it !! but if its inconsistant and unpredictable then will forget the idea . Have to recycle and grind up chopsticks instead !!
Thank you for the information !!

 

I was at JEC, and one of the basalt fiber producers explained me the manufacturing principle, which involved mixing in additives or different batches, to get the physical properties to match the datasheet. So it is not as simple as melting and casting fibers.

There are several weavers that are able to work with basalt. Just ask them. Selcom in Italy makes multiaxials in basalt. (and glass, carbon, aramides, and flax)

 

I guess untill they sort the manufacturing thing 100% it will stay where it is !! on the back burner !! pitty something better than glass and not as good as carbon would be a reall go !!
Thank you for the information posted !!

 

There's no problems to be sorted.. Just old hearsay a decade or two ago..
Another supplier for all kind of basalt fabrics is Basaltex in Belgium.

 

Indeed materials are available. Looking at the datasheet, and keeping price in mind, I doubt that the marine industry is the first one to adopt basalt. there is just too little advantage for the marine industry, to accept the higher price.

 

Again, as I mentioned, my understanding is limited on basalt, though mixing batches of raw materials before the furnace seems a good approach, to address differences in raw material batches. Homogenized I guess. I still have questions about purity, which was another concern, but to be frank, I'm not so disenchanted with glass, to consider alternatives like this, particularity when Spectra is available.

 

Basalt or Continous Basalt Fiber (CBL) is fiber extruded from Basalt rock. It was originally developed in Ukraine, then Japan found a use for it, now China is developing its uses. You can even have it in prepreg form. (i wonder if it is the same fiber that is touted in USA as volcanic rock).

Its properties is some thing in between glass and carbon fiber but is supposed to be cheaper than E glass. It is sometimes used as a direct substitute for S glass or Kevlar, but its promising characterristic is heat resistance. They used it on mufflers.

I don't have the material data sheet for now as I am having trouble with my service provider. Most of the sites are down. Lucky for me, this BD forum popped up. Been trying to access here for a month now.

 

Do post the MSDS when you can . . .