Fibre glass, which is better known as fibreglass, is a very well known raw material for making different items. In order to procure genuine and rugged fibreglass we should have some basic knowledge about this material. This article tries to provide some amount of information about fibreglass to you.

Fibreglass is made from strands of glass, made using silica, extruded into very fine fibres. These fibres are held together by using a binder. Two kinds of binder are generally used - powder or emulsion. This binder holds these fibres together to produce what is called 'chop strand matt'. Chop strand matt is the more common type of . A number of other glass like fibre reinforcements are also available, like Kevlar and Carbon fibre. They are used for more high-end use.

When these glass fibres are combined with a polymer resin, it results in the formation of a product that is better known as a composite material. This composite material is better known as Glass Reinforced Plastic or GRP. This composite is also known as Fibre Reinforced Plastic or FRP. This composite is more commonly known by the name of fibreglass or fibre glass.

The most common polymer resin that is used to make fibreglass is polyester resin. But, a number of other resins are also used. They are - vinylester, epoxy, polyurethane and many others. The choice of fibre and resin to produce the composite material would depend on the end use of the composite material.

Use of fibreglass provides a lot of flexibility in design and this composite material could be moulded into products that could be used in large number of applications.

The composite material that is well known as fibreglass has very few design constraints. This composite material could be easily moulded into products of any size, shape, and colour and the cost of the product would be much cheaper than making it using conventional material. This Fibreglass moulded components are lightweight, strong, requiring much less maintenance and specific property like fire retardation, chemical resistance, resistance to extreme weather conditions etc. All these properties have made this composite material quite popular with designers, architects as well as end users of different products.

Some examples of fibreglass mouldings are listed below:

1Construction: Architectural facades, internal and external cladding, canopies and columns, domed structures etc.

2Marine: Boat hulls and other components of a boat, pontoons, life raft enclosures etc.

The above information, it is hoped, would help you in procuring genuine and rugged fibre glass for your specific requirement.