Since the mid-1970s, specifically in 1974, when the China Building Materials Research Institute began researching the use of glass fiber to reinforce Portland cement (GRC), a "dual insurance" technical approach was proposed (i.e., alkali-resistant glass fiber reinforced low-alkalinity sulfate cement). Over the subsequent decades, although many achievements were made, China's GRC industry has not indeed solved its durability issues and has always faced some very worrying problems:
（1）Lowering the ZrO2 content in alkali-resistant glass fiber;
（2）Instability in the quality of low-alkalinity sulfate cement;
（3）Replacing alkali-resistant glass fiber with general mid-alkali glass fiber;
（4）Replacing low-alkalinity sulfate cement with ordinary Portland cement.
Another area for improvement is that the production of GRC products in some enterprises has a low level of mechanization, primarily relying on manual labor. Coupled with not strictly following technical procedures, this leads to poor quality of finished products (detailed in the preface of "China Glass Fiber Reinforced Cement" authored by Wang Yanmo in June 2000). China's GRC industry has yet to embark on a broad and healthy development path. With the start of continuous basalt fiber production in China, the technical solution of basalt fiber-reinforced Portland cement has regained industry attention, especially among some chemical building material companies that initially used polypropylene fiber-reinforced cement concrete. These companies are actively adopting basalt fiber-reinforced Portland cement and its concrete. Additionally, some construction reinforcement companies are using basalt fiber sheets to replace carbon fiber for strengthening, reinforcing, and repairing buildings and bridges, achieving good results. Using natural volcanic rocks as raw materials for producing basalt fiber heralds a revolution in the building materials industry.
Its application is primarily evident in the following areas: Firstly, in the domain of concrete reinforcement. Concrete reinforcement materials encompass carbon fiber, glass fiber, para-aramid, steel fiber, and basalt fiber. The principal objective of reinforcement is to enhance product tensile strength and bolster construction projects' seepage and crack resistance. Basalt fiber enjoys an unmistakable advantage in strength, with its tensile strength surpassing that of the materials mentioned above, yielding the most effective reinforcement. While slightly inferior to carbon fiber and para-aramid in alkali resistance, basalt fiber outperforms glass and steel fiber. Moreover, basalt fiber exhibits excellent compatibility with concrete due to similar composition and density, boasting superior compatibility and dispersibility compared to other reinforcement fibers. For instance, employing basalt fiber to reinforce railway cement sleepers resolves durability concerns, especially since it is suitable for use in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and other climatically variable regions.
Interested parties may refer to our article "Basalt Fiber Application in the Field of Construction and Foundation Engineering," which was published in the 2004 Industrial Building magazine supplement.Secondly, it applies to building restoration, reinforcement, and renewal. Carbon fiber reinforced fabric represents a high-tech, high-cost product. The current reinforcement materials predominantly used are carbon and aramid fibers, leveraging material strength and elastic modulus. Basalt fiber matches or exceeds carbon fiber in strength and surpasses aramid, albeit with a lower elastic modulus. However, its superior affinity with resin enhances reinforcement effectiveness and material service life. Notably, continuous basalt fiber demonstrates equivalent effectiveness to carbon fiber in bridge and column winding reinforcement. This significant finding stems from comparative experiments between basalt fiber and carbon fiber under identical conditions conducted by the School of Civil Engineering at Southeast University.
Regarding cost-effectiveness, basalt fiber's price significantly undercuts carbon fiber and aramid, thus presenting a formidable competitive advantage and emerging as the preferred alternative for seismic reinforcement materials. Its applications span beam, column, plate, and wall reinforcement and extend to Bridges, tunnels, and DAMS, particularly for seismic reinforcement.
Basalt fiber reinforcement boasts distinct characteristics compared to adhesive steel and carbon fiber reinforcement: non-conductivity; favorable cost-performance ratio; high shear strength; excellent ductility and earthquake resistance; compatibility with concrete thermal expansion coefficients; resistance to aging, high temperatures, freeze-thaw cycles; strong adhesion to concrete and resin; acid and alkali resistance, and adaptability to diverse environments. Carbon fiber and aramid stand as primary high-performance fiber reinforcement materials globally in building reinforcement.
Preliminary results indicate that basalt fiber offers superior cost-effectiveness while maintaining high tensile, shear, impact strength, and thermal vibration stability. Its extensive application prospects encompass seismic strengthening of Bridges, tunnels, buildings, and other structures. Additionally, preliminary application research validates CBFRP (Continuous Basalt Fiber Reinforced Plastic) composite reinforcement as a new material to supplant carbon fiber, aramid, and other continuous fiber composites, primarily substituting steel bars in concrete for harsh environmental conditions to alleviate steel corrosion and enhance concrete structure durability.
Thirdly, its application in road construction. Using geogrids for pavement plating has emerged as a research focus in road construction. Geogrids, as novel geosynthetic materials, offer a rational structure, superior performance, high heat and cold resistance, high strength, modulus, low expansion coefficient, and stable physical and chemical properties. Geogrids effectively resist fatigue cracking, high-temperature rutting, low-temperature shrinkage cracking, and delay reflection cracks, making them widely applicable in high-grade highways, bridge decks, municipal roads, and airport pavements. Presently, geogrids predominantly comprise glass fiber and plastic. Basalt fiber surpasses both materials across various parameters. Critical advantages of basalt fiber geogrids include high tensile strength, good elongation, no long-term creep, excellent thermal stability, strong compatibility with asphalt mixtures, and robust physical and chemical stability, culminating in superior low-temperature resistance.
