Novel glass compositions for fiber drawing

Strengthening concrete by fiber reinforcement is a new trend nowadays. Glass is one of the materials that have the highest chemical durability in concrete. Chemically durable glass compositions in alkaline environment have been studied for 25 years by our group. SMZS (SrO–MgO–ZrO2–SiO2) system glass compositions possess high chemical durability in alkaline solutions. Further investigations show that recently discovered SMFMZS (SrO–MgO–FeO–MnO–ZrO2–SiO2) glasses exhibit better chemical durability when compared to the former one containing more SrO in the composition as a modifying oxide.The main purpose of the present study was to produce glass fibers made of our own SMZS and SMFMZS glass systems compositions inhibiting better alkali durability compared to the commercial E-glass fiber. Further study on the SMFMZS glass samples in terms of fiber drawing revealed that magnesia-silicate related many crystalline phases were formed during the process. Determining possible crystallization temperatures of SMFMZS system glasses were carried out by the gradient furnace. Additionally, those formed crystals were fully characterized by SEM and EDX. To prevent surface and bulk crystallization during fiber drawing, the composition changes were made. Consequently, successful composition was achieved.