Continuous glass fibres, first conceived and manufactured during 1935 in Newark, OH, started a revolution in reinforced composite materials that has grown to a global annual consumption of around 3BN kilograms. Glass fibre reinforced composites were first used in structural aerospace parts during 1942. In the early 1960s, high strength glass fibres, S Glass, were first used in collaborative work between Owens-Corning and the US Air Force. In 1968, S-2 Glass products began to evolve for a variety of commercial applications. High-strength glass fibres combine high temperature durability, stability, transparency and resilience at a very reasonable cost-weight-performance. Revolutionary and evolutionary technology continues to improve manufacturing processes for glass fibre production. This article looks at some of these new processes.
