Glass fiber (or glass fibre) is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass. Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling. In 1893, Edward Drummond Libbey exhibited a dress at the World’s Columbian Exposition incorporating glass fibers with the diameter and texture of silk fibers. This was first worn by the popular stage actress of the time Georgia Cayvan. Glass fibers can also occur naturally, as Pele’s hair. Glass wool, which is one product called “fiberglass” today, was invented in 1932–1933 by Russell Games Slayter of Owens-Corning, as a material to be used as thermal building insulation.[1] It is marketed under the trade name Fiberglas, which has become a genericized trademark. Glass fiber when used as a thermal insulating material, is specially manufactured with a bonding agent to trap many small air cells, resulting in the characteristically air-filled low-density “glass wool” family of products. Glass fiber has roughly comparable mechanical properties to other fibers such as polymers and carbon fiber. Although not as strong or as rigid as carbon fiber, it is much cheaper and significantly less brittle when used in composites. Glass fibers are therefore used as a reinforcing agent for many polymer products; to form a very strong and relatively lightweight fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite material called glass-reinforced plastic (GRP), also popularly known as “fiberglass”. This structural material product contains little or no air or gas, is more dense, and is a much poorer thermal insulator than is glass wool. Composition. The most common types of glass fiber used in fiberglass is E-glass, which is alumino-borosilicate glass with less than 1% w/w alkali oxides, mainly used for glass-reinforced plastics. Other types of glass used are A-glass (Alkali-lime glass with little or no boron oxide), E-CR-glass (Electrical/Chemical Resistance; alumino-lime silicate with less than 1% w/w alkali oxides, with high acid resistance), C-glass (alkali-lime glass with high boron oxide content, used for glass staple fibers and insulation), D-glass (borosilicate glass, named for its low Dielectric constant), R-glass (alumino silicate glass without MgO and CaO with high mechanical requirements as reinforcement), and S-glass (alumino silicate glass without CaO but with high MgO content with high tensile strength). Naming and use. Pure silica (silicon dioxide), when cooled as fused quartz into a glass with no true melting point, can be used as a glass fiber for fiberglass, but has the drawback that it must be worked at very high temperatures. In order to lower the necessary work temperature, other materials are introduced as “fluxing agents” (i.e., components to lower the melting point). Ordinary A-glass (“A” for “alkali-lime”) or soda lime glass, crushed and ready to be remelted, as so-called cullet glass, was the first type of glass used for fiberglass. E-glass (“E” because of initial electrical application), is alkali free, and was the first glass formulation used for continuous filament formation. It now makes up most of the fiberglass production in the world, and also is the single largest consumer of boron minerals globally. It is susceptible to chloride ion attack and is a poor choice for marine applications. S-glass (“S” for “Strength”) is used when high tensile strength (modulus) is important, and is thus an important building and aircraft epoxy composite. The same substance is known as R-glass (“R” for “reinforcement”) in Europe). C-glass (“C” for “chemical resistance”) and T-glass (“T” is for “thermal insulator” – a North American variant of C-glass) are resistant to chemical attack; both are often found in insulation-grades of blown fiberglass. More information about fiberglass filter cloth, please check our product FIBERGLASS FILTER CLOTH