The future of fibre glass performance

PPG Industries’fibre glass business received recognition for INNOFIBER ? XM fibre glass in the Materials category of the Ringier Technology Innovation Awards 2013. The awards were presented by Ringier Trade Media in China. A panel of independent judges–including college professors and composites industry experts – selected the products and technologies they felt were most innovative and would make the greatest contribution to the development of the Chinese composites market.

“INNOFIBER specialty glass composition fibres – especially the XM high-modulus composition – are based on proprietary PPG technology that yields mechanical properties beyond those of traditional E-Glass,” said Terry Fry, PPG general manager of fibre glass, Asia Pacific.“As the composites industry continues to innovate, the demand for high performance is increasing. Fibre glass development used to focus on sizing, but while sizing continues to be important, the trend is moving toward better glass compositions to help create better products.”

Dr Joe Yu, PPG director of business development, fibre glass, Asia Pacific, said,“PPG is committed to providing solutions to our customers and supporting their long-term growth and expansion. INNOFIBER XM glass composition fibres offer better stiffness and are more lightweight than competitors’products, which benefits end-use applications that utilise highly-oriented fibre reinforcements, such as wind blade and transportation applications.”

PPG Fiber Glass is a global manufacturer of reinforcement materials for thermoset and thermoplastic composite applications with manufacturing and research facilities in the United States, Europe and Asia. It serves the transportation, energy, infrastructure and consumer markets, as well as electronic circuit board and specialty yarn markets. Founded in 1883, PPG has global headquarters in Pittsburgh and operates in more than 70 countries around the world. 

The specialty glass composition fibresGlass fibres

Glass fibres fall into two categories: general purpose and special purpose. The most widely used glass fibre types are general purpose, also known as E-Glass fibres. Overall E-Glass offers good mechanical, electrical and corrosion properties.  As the possible market applications of composites
continue to grow, companies have faced challenges to meet the demands related to performance,  cost, reliability,  and durability, as well as the increased focus on sustainability and environmental stewardship. These challenges include such situations when the length requirements of wind blades continue to grow, or when power plants want maximum performance and lifetime from pipes and tanks in harsh conditions and environments. Also, demands for fuel economy with sacrifice of performance are bringing changes to the automotive industry, while in another area, the continued advancements in technology require the signal speed of circuit boards to be more robust than ever before.

The INNOFIBER glass fibre compositions from PPG are engineered for specific performance. For instance, the  corrosion  resistant  properties  of INNOFIBER CR glass fibre exceed the boundaries of standard E-Glass. Higher and greater stiffness and lightweight mechanical properties are available with INNOFIBER XM fibre glass. Also, the specialty yarn fibre offerings with INNOFIBER LD fibre glass expand the processing speed of circuit boards while still offering its excellent electrical properties.

The INNOFIBER XM fibre glass is an alkaline earth aliminosilicate glass that provides excellent tensile modulus. In highly orientated composite applications - when performance is critical - INNONike Hypervenom Phantom