The Manufacturing Technology of Continuous Glass Fibres

Since the first edition, technical development has evolved rapidly, and the fields of application are expanding continuously. The industry has become very competitive. Glass fibre now costs less (in money terms) than it did 30 years ago. At the same time, quality standards are higher. This has been achieved by significant advances in technology, improving the scale of manufacturing operations and increased automation, while being subjected, at the same time, to increasingly severe legislation designed to protect the environment. This third completely revised edition, while updating and expanding on earlier data, covers current advances in furnace technology (including pollution aspects) and progress in the all-electric Pochet furnace used mainly in the not-so-developed countries; new designs of fibre forming furnaces (bushings); the increasing use of one stage glass-to-product technologies; and consequent changes in product specifications. A discussion is included on the recycling of waste fibre back into the melting process, the increasing use of dielectric drying, new materials and formulations for fibre sizes and the automatic control of strand distribution in chopped strand mat. A new chapter covering health and safety in the glass fibre industry has also been added. Thus the book provides an in-depth survey on the current state of the technology, and should be useful for all those connected with glass fibre manufacture. It should also enable those specializing in a particular area to familiarize themselves with the whole field.