Basalt fiber (BF) is a new type of inorganic environmental protection high-performance material. Its color is generally brown and some are like gold. It is composed of SiO2, Al2O3, Cao, FeO and other oxides and a small amount of impurities. Each component in the fiber has its specific properties. Basalt continuous fiber as a reinforcing material, basalt fiber not only has good stability, excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance, but also has the advantages of good insulation, excellent thermal insulation and sound insulation, good wave transmission and so on.
Because basalt ore itself gives basalt fiber many excellent properties, basalt fiber itself has high durability and excellent mechanical properties. These advantages are very practical in military and civil fields.
At present, the fire-proof cloth woven by basalt fiber spinning has been used in the production of flame-retardant and thermal insulation protective clothing and fire-fighting blanket. The products are mainly used in fire-fighting, metallurgy, military industry and other industries. The potential market for basalt fiber is to replace glass fiber. In the field of building reinforcement, the performance of basalt fiber is close to carbon fiber, but the price is several times or even dozens of times lower than carbon fiber. In domestic civil engineering, basalt fiber can partially replace expensive carbon fiber for structural reinforcement, so as to reduce the dependence of structural reinforcement engineering on carbon fiber in our country. In terms of composite materials, it can be combined with various resins to form composite materials, which can be used as structural materials, fan blades, vehicle and ship structures, corrosion-resistant and pressure-resistant pipes and storage tanks, as well as printed circuit board substrates.
1. In the field of fire prevention and heat insulation
Basalt is widely distributed and cheap in China.Its fiber manufacturing cost is low. Compared with chemical fiber, glass fiber and carbon fiber, basalt has obvious comprehensive advantages and great substitution potential. It is a new product with high-tech content and high added value.
In recent years, green fireproof and thermal insulation materials have gradually attracted people's attention. As a green material, basalt fiber has become the preferred material for fire prevention and heat insulation. It has the characteristics of light weight, fire prevention, heat insulation, beauty and so on. The basalt fiber composite fireproof and thermal insulation material composed of basalt fiber fabric layer, high temperature resistant rubber layer, polyester fiber film layer, vapor precipitated aluminum reflective layer and flame retardant viscose and Basofil blended fabric layer has good flame retardant, thermal insulation and high temperature resistance. It can absorb some heat in high temperature environment, with better thermal insulation effect and no combustion, It can play a better protective role and be used in fire protection, petrochemical, military, metallurgy and other fields.
According to Qi Fengjie, Professor of the school of polymer materials of Northeastern University, the fire-proof cloth made of basalt fiber has good high temperature resistance and heat insulation effect. The temperature resistance can be as high as 650 ℃, and the limiting oxygen index is greater than 68, which is much better than organic fibers such as aramid fiber. It is especially suitable for preparing industrial fire curtain. Basalt fiber fireproof cloth will not deform and burst under the action of 1000 ℃ flame, and the fire resistance time can be maintained above 1 hour. It can also play a protective role in the environment of humidity, steam, smoke and chemical gas. In addition, if basalt fiber is blended with other fibers, it can be made into higher specification flame retardant and fireproof cloth fabric, which has obvious advantages for relevant equipment of special forces.
From the current market application, Kevlar, Nomex and Teflon fibers of DuPont have been used as the preferred raw materials for fireproof cloth abroad. Although the above three raw materials have the properties of high temperature resistance and chemical reaction resistance, they will carbonize and decompose at a high temperature above 370 ℃. The basalt fiber fireproof cloth is made of GBF company's 7 μ m～9 μ M continuous basalt fiber spun yarn is woven, and after high temperature resistant and non-toxic coating treatment, there will be no melting drip, heat shrinkage and toxic gas discharge. It can become a powerful substitute for Kevlar, Nomex, Teflon and other fireproof fiber cloth.
It is difficult to filament basalt fiber and process control in the production process, which limits the development of basalt fiber industrial textiles in some fields. At present, only a few countries in the world, such as Russia, Ukraine and China, have mastered the production technology, and the total output in the world is less than 3500 tons. After hard exploration and practice, Chinese enterprises have overcome the manufacturing technical difficulties of basalt fiber, and have mass produced to form a certain market scale.
2. In automobile field
Basalt fiber not only has high strength, good thermal stability, not easy to damage, low wear, stable friction coefficient, but also has appropriate price. The application of basalt fiber in friction reinforcement materials is not only conducive to increase the service life of automobile friction materials and improve the service temperature of friction materials, but also solve various adverse factors of current friction materials, solve the heat recession phenomenon of traditional automobile brakes and reduce traffic accidents.
Spanish garfer company has successfully developed 1052 series motorcycle brake pads with basalt fiber as the main reinforcing fiber. The high temperature resistant structure made of basalt fiber is used for friction reinforcement materials such as automobile brake and clutch, which not only helps the high-speed development of automobile, but also helps to improve the safety performance of automobile. Its development has broad market prospects.
The material density of basalt fiber is moderate, its tensile strength is equivalent to that of glass fiber, and the wear resistance of basalt fiber reinforced friction material is higher than that of asbestos fiber, steel fiber and glass fiber. Through the performance test of basalt chopped fiber reinforced brake pad, it is considered that it has the characteristics of stable high-temperature friction coefficient, low heat decay and low braking noise, and is suitable to be used as the main reinforcement of friction material.
Basalt fiber automobile filter material can filter and separate the solid particles in automobile exhaust under high temperature conditions, reduce the urban pollution caused by automobile exhaust, and its filter material has the advantages of long-term use under high temperature conditions and stable performance. For the filter cloth made of continuous basalt fiber in Russia and Ukraine, the mass loss of continuous basalt fiber is only 12% at 900 ℃. The application of basalt fiber automotive filter material not only meets the requirements of environmental protection in the new century, but also helps to meet the requirements of people's pursuit of high-performance vehicles.
Compared with glass fiber widely used in interior decoration materials, basalt fiber has much better sound absorption and heat resistance than E-glass fiber. The application of heat-insulating and sound-absorbing basalt fiber material in automobile is conducive to improve the sound insulation performance between automobile and the outside world and reduce the noise generated by automobile parts. Japan has selected basalt fiber as the best material for the development of automobile muffler, and the annual demand for automobile sound and heat insulation fiber materials is more than 100000 tons. Therefore, basalt fiber has great market development potential in this regard.
3.In Construction Engineering
Basalt fiber reinforced concrete is a new type of concrete composite material formed by mixing basalt continuous fiber or discontinuous fiber into concrete according to reasonable dosage and appropriate way. It retains the advantages of high compressive strength of concrete, increases its tensile, wear-resistant and impact resistance, and plays a role in reinforcement, reinforcement, toughening and Prolong service life. Basalt fiber is a typical silicate fiber with natural compatibility. It is easy to disperse when mixed with cement concrete and mortar. The newly mixed basalt fiber concrete has stable volume and good workability.
Compared with ordinary concrete, basalt fiber concrete also has superior temperature resistance, shrinkage resistance and corrosion resistance, which is conducive to improve the durability of concrete engineering and expand the application range of concrete. Adding basalt fiber into concrete can improve the impact resistance of concrete, reduce its brittleness and improve the mechanical properties of concrete.
The raw materials for the production of basalt fiber are from natural volcanic extrusive rocks, and the raw materials almost do not contain components harmful to human health, which makes the promotion of basalt fiber concrete in the field of construction engineering have the significance of saving resources and green environmental protection.
4.Recommendations
Basalt fiber has excellent thermal protection and mechanical properties. However, various data also show that the biggest disadvantage of basalt fiber is that its density is slightly larger than other fibers. Therefore, in the application of basalt, the R & D capacity and production technology level of basalt fiber should be fully strengthened, and the process parameters should be reasonably selected in the design of fabric organization and structure, so as to avoid additional labor load on workers or users due to excessive weight of textiles, so as to apply basalt fabric with good thermal protection performance to the field of flame retardant protection, It will also make the best use of everything and get twice the result with half the effort.
High performance flame retardant fiber is widely used in high-tech industry, cutting-edge technology and special equipment, but it is rarely used in industrial and civil fields with large market demand. The main reason is that it has few varieties, high price and poor wearability. Basalt fiber has extremely high limiting oxygen index and is an inorganic fiber without harmful gas emission during combustion, but its price is high and its wearing performance is poor. It can be considered to blend with other fibers to make the blended fabric not only have high flame retardancy, but also reduce or even eliminate the emission of harmful gas in combustion reaction, such as using the flame retardancy of basalt fiber and the comfort of cotton The combination of moisture absorption and air permeability and blending in a certain proportion can not only ensure that the fabric has good flame retardancy, good comfort and environmental protection, but also improve the wearing performance of the product.
As a new type of high-performance fiber, basalt fiber has the advantages of performance, technology and cost. At present, there is still a gap between the R & D level of basalt fiber in China and developed countries. How to transform the three advantages of basalt fiber well needs to further improve and optimize the performance and production technology of basalt fiber. At the same time, we should strengthen the surface modification technology of industrial textiles to improve its mechanical properties and the anti-aging performance of the environment, develop new products with competitive and differentiated products, broaden the scope of application and increase market promotion, so that basalt fiber can better and better play its advantages and promote the upgrading and upgrading of products in related fields.
