STRENGTHS OF CEMENTS REINFORCED WITH GLASS FIBRES

Fibrous composite materials utilizing ceramic fibres and inorganic cements offer a potential source of new lightweight, strong and durable materials. Commercial glass fibres now available are not durable in an alkaline medium of the kind present in most hydrating cements; a new alkali-resistant glass has been developed at the Building Research Station to surmount this difficulty. Because this has renewed interest in the subject, and to provide a yardstick for the effectiveness of the new glass, composites made with commercially available glass fibres and various inorganic binders were studied to find suitable methods of fabrication and to establish the behaviour of the material. This paper describes the influence of type of matrix, age and glass content upon the impact, tensile and bending strengths of composites fabricated by a simple spray-suction technique. On the basis of the properties developed before chemical interaction between glass and cement becomes dominant, it can be foreseen that, given a durable glass, the composites will have pronounced advantages over existing sheet materials in respect of impact strength, bending strength and resistance to cracking. As supplies of alkali-resistant fibre become available, the programme will be repeated with this material. © 1969, Thomas Telford Ltd. All rights reserved.