Glass Reinforced Plastic

Glass-reinforced plastic is a very strong material used in the construction of various goods that require strength and yet lightweight materials such as boats, automobiles, hot tubs, water tanks and so on. Also known as glass fibre reinforced plastic, glass-reinforced plastic is a fiber reinforced polymer made of a plastic matrix and reinforced by fine fibers of glass. Commonly this material is referred to as simply fiberglass.

Fiberglass reinforced plastic is a material that is very robust and strong and which is yet lightweight thus making it the perfect material for various industries. It is however important to bear in mind that the strength properties of fiberglass are somewhat smaller than those of the carbon fiber. At the same time, the fiberglass is less stiff, less brittle and much cheaper to produce as the raw materials cost less. In comparison to metals, the bulk strength and weight properties of fiberglass are also favorable as it can be formed using molding processes. The individual structural glass fiber is stiff and strong in compression and tension along its axis but unstiff and weak across its axis. This means that arranging together more pieces of glass fibers in a preferred direction within a material makes it preferably strong in that direction. At the same time, by laying multiple layer of glass-reinforced plastic on top of one another with each layer oriented in a different direction leads to the creation of a very stiff and string material. The fiberglass is made by pouring the material into a plastic matrix. This matrix can be made from epoxy, or thermoplastic.

Fiberglass is thus a very strong, robust and lightweight material which makes it favorable to be used in industries where these properties are most wanted. As such, it is commonly used in the construction of cars, boats, exterior doors, and pipes as well as other things.