Basalt
- volcanic rock and forms about 30% of Earth’s crust,
- extremely durable and hard material of a fine-grained structure,
- resistant to abrasion and chemicals.
Thanks to these attributes, basalt is used for the production of modern composite materials.
Main benefits of Basalt:
- high tensile strength – basalt fibre strength is comparable to the strength of carbon fibre (basalt is 2.5x stronger and 6x lighter than steel)
- thermal conductivity – basalt enjoys low thermal conductivity (100x lower than steel), its use can create an increase in the thermal insulation efficiency of walls of up to 35%
- fire resistance – basalt resists high temperatures, in long term up to 700ºC and in short term up to 1000ºC (glass fibre composite loses its strength in temperatures above 300ºC) – actual limit of fire resistance is at least 151 mins
- anticorrosive
- electrical resistance
- resistant to alkaline and chemical substances
- good bond strength with concrete – bars have a sand coating, increasing bond strength by up to 60&
Basalt and Composite:
Composite is a material made from at least two main components significantly different in their physical properties. The material is made from fibre reinforcement and composite binder. The most common composite is made from organic polymer resin and basalt or fibreglass.