Narrow Results

This study was evaluated by changing the mass loss ratio and the strength maintenance ratios of the fibers after treatment. The fibers were treated with sodium hydroxide and hydrochloric acid solutions for different amount of times. The environmental resistance was analyzed by changing the time of treatment in NaOH and HCl solutions. The fibers’ surface corrosion morphologies were analyzed using the optical microscope. The acid resistance was much better than the alkali resistance for the basalt and slag fibers. Nevertheless, the situation for the glass fibers was different: the acid resistance was almost the same as the alkali resistance. Between the two types of aqueous environments evaluated, the alkali solution is the most aggressive to the fibers’ surface.

Slag fiber has economic and environmental advantages in that it converts a low-value-added material to a high-value-added material. However, although the slag fiber has a chemical composition similar to basalt fiber, its competitiveness in the fiber industry is significantly lower. Moreover, the slag fiber remains in the pre-commercial stage due to the uncertainty and instability of the basic properties. Therefore, in this study, the slag fiber customized through the fiberization process was compared with the existing basalt fiber to analyze the effect of the similarity of chemical composition on the environmental degradation characteristics and mechanical properties under tensile loading. As a result, the slag filament composites showed lower tensile strength due to the weaker interfacial bonding strength with the epoxy matrix than the basalt filament composites, but the difference in decreased tensile strength rate was not significant. In addition, long-term moisture absorption in fresh water and seawater demonstrated excellent moisture absorption resistance.

Epoxy resins reinforced by basalt fibers were treated with a sulfuric acid solution for different periods and concentrations. The tensile strength of the composites was examined after the treatment. The fracture surfaces were characterized using scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The tensile strengths of the sulfuric acid solution-treated samples showed a decreasing trend with treating times and concentrations. However, after 250–500 h of treatment time, the tensile strengths showed an increasing trend. Based on the experimental results, the possible corrosion mechanisms were explored. Sulfuric acid leads to insoluble sulfur oxide formation with high C, Ca and Fe element contents on the fiber surface. With the continuation of sulfuric acid reaction, a thin corrosion shell covers the whole fiber surface. The thickest corrosion shell caused a significant increase in the tensile strength at the breaking of basalt fibers.

Composites are vulnerable to the impact damage by the collision as to the thickness direction, because composites are being manufactured by laminating the fiber. The understanding about the retained strength after the impact damage of the material is essential in order to secure the reliability of the structure design using the composites. In this paper, we have tried to evaluate the motion of the material according to the kinetic energy and potential energy and the retained strength after impact damage by testing the free fall test of the basalt fiber reinforced composite in the limelight as the environment friendly characteristic.

This experiment has examined the corrosion and tribological properties of basalt fiber reinforced composite materials. There were slight changes of weight after the occurring of corrosion based on time and H₂SO₄ concentration, but in general, the weight increased. It is assumed that this happens due to the basalt fiber precipitate. Prior to the corrosion, friction-wear behavior showed irregular patterns compared to metallic materials, and when it was compared with the behavior after the corrosion, the coefficient of friction was 2 to 3 times greater. The coefficient of friction of all test specimen ranged from 0.1 to 0.2. Such a result has proven that the basalt fiber, similar to the resin rubber, shows regular patterns regardless of time and H₂SO₄ concentration because of the space made between resins and reinforced materials.

Slag means residues that occur during the steelmaking process. Measuring the high temperature viscosity of the slag is difficult and high cost. So, viscosity models can be used to predict the trends in viscosity as a function of the key variables, and so assist in the selection of process conditions and the optimization of the performance of slag fibers. Slag fibers with compositions similar to glass/carbon fibers are also expected to be suitable for spinning at a log viscosity value of 2.8–3. The fiberizing temperature of glass fiber is more than $1300^{\circ }\mathrm{\text{C}}$ and the fiberizing temperature of basalt fiber is more than $1250^{\circ }\mathrm{\text{C}}$, while the slag fiber can be spun at a low temperature.

We investigated the effect of Halloysite nanotube (HNT) addition on the interfacial and bending properties of hybrid composites. Test specimens were prepared using a vacuum bag method, which is manufactured by using an autoclave device. Ultrasound device was used to uniformly disperse HNT nanoparticles into the epoxy. Amount of the nanoparticles was determined by the weight of the epoxy resin. The Fracture toughness, ILSS and bending strength of Aramid/Basalt fiber hybrid composite specimens were decreased by more than certain amount of HNT. This phenomenon is presumably due to aggregation of HNT.

At present, research is actively being conducted into composite materials using natural fibers and thermoplastic resins that can serve as eco-friendly materials. However, the weak interfacial bonding shape between natural fibers and thermoplastic resins leads to low mechanical properties in the natural fiber-reinforced polymer composite. This study examined the usage of basalt fibers (BFs) and polypropylene (PP) to address this issue. Plasma surface modification (PSM) was performed on the surface of the BF to improve the interfacial bonding force between the fiber and the thermoplastic resin. Studies on monomer selection (HMDSO), plasma generation conditions (3 kV), and surface modification time (20–150 s) were conducted to determine the optimal conditions for PSM. FT-IR analysis was performed to confirm the surface modification and the fracture surface was observed after the mechanical properties were measured. The experimental results confirmed the effect of PSM on the BF resulting in about 10% improvement on the related mechanical properties.

This paper investigates the friction and wear behavior of Al-7075 and Basalt fiber metal matrix composite for clutch facing applications by replacing the existing asbestos with Basalt fiber combination. Experiments are done to evaluate the friction and wear properties of Al-7075 and Basalt fiber metal matrix composite material under different sliding velocities and contact loads. The reinforcement percentage of Basalt fiber is varied from 0% to 10% in steps of 2.5% on the weight basis. At present, the clutch facing for the Multi Utility Vehicles (MUV) is made of asbestos as a primary content and its hazardous characteristics are taken into consideration. Initially, the clutch facing specifications of a MUV are observed through field studies and then, design calculations are performed to prepare the structural analysis using ANSYS workbench. The stress–strain characteristics of Al-7075 and Basalt fiber mixture are studied through the computational analysis before the fabrication process. Then, the specimen is fabricated by stir casting technique for the experimental investigation of friction and wear properties using pin-on-disk apparatus. The outcome of the analysis has revealed the use of Al-7075 and Basalt fiber metal matrix composite material as a replacement for the existing clutch facing applications and the results are presented with validations.

Basalt fiber reinforced reactive powder concrete, as a new type of construction material, has a lot of outstanding performances. For example: high strength, good flexibility, good wear-resisting and impact resistance, it also shows good property in corrosion resistance. However, the study on basalt fiber reinforced reactive powder concrete is still in the initial stage, the numerical simulation research on the fracture property is basically in the blank stage. In this paper, the smeared cracking model was used in the numerical simulation. Cube compressive strength test, prism axial compression test, cylinder splitting tensile test and three-point bending beam fracture tests were done to get the relative parameters. The parameters obtained from the tests were used to develop the smeared cracking model by using the finite element analysis software ABAQUS. Based on the correct numerical model parameters, the ABAQUS finite element software was used to analysis the three-point bending beam with different span-depth ratio. The comparison of numerical results with experimental results indicates a good agreement.

Slag fiber has economic and environmental advantages in that it converts a low-value-added material to a high-value-added material. However, although the slag fiber has a chemical composition similar to basalt fiber, its competitiveness in the fiber industry is significantly lower. Moreover, the slag fiber remains in the pre-commercial stage due to the uncertainty and instability of the basic properties. Therefore, in this study, the slag fiber customized through the fiberization process was compared with the existing basalt fiber to analyze the effect of the similarity of chemical composition on the environmental degradation characteristics and mechanical properties under tensile loading. As a result, the slag filament composites showed lower tensile strength due to the weaker interfacial bonding strength with the epoxy matrix than the basalt filament composites, but the difference in decreased tensile strength rate was not significant. In addition, long-term moisture absorption in fresh water and seawater demonstrated excellent moisture absorption resistance.