JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #78 - January/February 2013 - 24

overview 2012

Fig. 3: An exemple of Aramid fibre application: The Stedelijk Museum façade (NL)

for composites. The market
is basically duopolistic,
with two players, Dupont
and Teijin, cornering more
than 85% of the market
between them. The figures
given are only estimates,
as the players involved
are very reticent about
their production volumes.
Lawsuits for infringement
of industrial property rights
do not foster transparency,
either.
Global production of continuous aramid fibre is estimated at 63,000 metric tons
(MT) per year for 2012, of
which only an estimated
2,500 MT should go to
composites (aramid is used
in a large number of other
applications, e.g. protective
clothing and pneumatics).
If you compare this with
glass fibre for composites,
at 5,295,000 MT/year, or
even with carbon fibre at an
estimated 74,000 MT/year,
the volume for aramid fibre
is extremely low.
Still, some impressive
projects are made possible

by aramid fibre, for example
the façade of the Stedelijk
Museum in Amsterdam (see
figure 1 and JEC Composites Magazine #74).

Basalt fibre
Properties
Continuous basalt fibres
have mechanical properties
that are close to those of
S-glass fibres. They have
excellent resistance to
both acidic and alkaline
environments, and their
temperature resistance is
higher than for glass. More
information on their composition and manufacturing
is available in JEC Composites Magazine No.68.
Use as composite
reinforcement
Technically speaking, basalt
fibres can be used practically anywhere where glass
fibre is used. From the
economic point of view,
however, their price is not
competitive with that of
E-glass fibre, so these fibres
are found in applications
where corrosion resistance

is a must and where good,
yet affordable mechanical
performance is sought.
User sectors include civil
engineering (concrete reinforcing and rebar, geogrids,
and structural rehabilitation), automotive (headliners, CNG tanks, BMC
parts, frictional materials,
etc.), corrosion-resistant
pipes, wind energy, marine,
and sport & leisure (photo
and video tripods, bicycle
parts, etc.). Basalt fibre is
also especially suitable in
seaside environments to
replace the iron rebar in
reinforced concrete, which
corrodes in contact with
the chlorides brought in by
sea spray.
Production capacities
The market for basalt is
oligopolistic, with production dominated by Russia,
the Ukraine and China. The
historical reason for this
is that the technology was
developed in the Ukraine
when it was still part of the
ex-Soviet Union. Outside
of this region, there are two

24 jec composites magazine / No78 January - February 2013

companies in Europe, one
in Belgium and the other in
Austria (see Table 7).
Global continuous basalt
fibre production is estimated at 15,000 MT/year for
2012, or about one-fourth
that for aramid fibre; however, the estimated volume
of continuous basalt fibre
used in composites is comparable to that for aramid.
That said, expanding the
volume used appears to be
much a more promising
proposition in the composite sector, mainly for cost
issues when compared with
manufacturing glass fibre
reinforced composites.
The geographical siting
of production is such that
basalt fibre is relatively new
in the market – and the
composite industry, even
though it is highly innovatory, can sometimes be
conservative on certain aspects. The physiochemical
properties of basalt favour
its use in certain sectors,
but what will be its volume
of use over the medium and
long term? n
More information:
www.jeccomposites.com
The section concerning Aramid
& Basalt follows two others that
were published in JEC Composites
Magazine on aramid and basalt,
in which you can find information
about the chemical composition of
these fibres:
- Para-aramid fibres for
composite applications: niche
market, JEC CompositesMagazine
No.60 October 2010, p. 16-17;
- Continuous basalt fibre (CBF): a
natural fibre for composite applications, JEC Composites Magazine
No.68 October 2011, p. 22-24.
http://www.jeccomposites.com
JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #78 - January/February 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - Issue #78 - January/February 2013
