Basalt, glass and carbon fibers and their fiber reinforced polymer composites under thermal and mechanical load

In order to enhance customer acceptance cost optimization is essential regarding future drive trains, like the fuel cell drive. Regarding the pressure vessels, which are needed to store the hydrogen, carbon fibers are the main cost driver. Therefore basalt fibers were identified as a cost effective alternative in previous studies. As fire load is one of the crucial tests in pressure vessel examination, the authors focused on the effect of thermal load on the mechanical properties of basalt fibers and their composites in this work. Therefor tensile tests were performed on impregnated basalt rovings and competing E-glass and carbon rovings after exposition to high temperatures between 100 and 600 °C. Furthermore residual tensile strength of unidirectional basalt-, E-glass-, and carbon reinforced polymers was tested after one-sided thermal load. Both experiments showed that basalt had higher tensile strength at low temperatures or shorter exposition times compared to glass. Yet degradation was more severe and strength was lower at higher temperatures or longer exposition times.