640 / 2022-03-30 22:43:38

The Salt-fog Aging Properties of Continuous Basalt Fiber Composites and Their Application on Composite Insulated Cross-arm Core Rods

Fibers; Pultrusion; Polymer-matrix composites (PMCs); Salt-fog Aging

Purpose/Aim

The application environment in coastal areas place a greater demand on the mechanical properties and salinity resistance of composite crossarms. Traditional glass fiber composites fail to meet higher application needs in coastal areas. Basalt fiber exhibits better mechanical properties and stability relative to glass fiber and has potential application value. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of basalt fiber application to composite cross-arms.

Experimental/Modeling methods

In this paper, the aging test of basalt fiber and glass fiber in sodium chloride solution was carried out. Also, the salt-fog aging test was carried out on the prepared basalt fiber reinforced plastic (BFRP) and glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP).

Results/discussion

At 25 °C sodium chloride solution, both basalt fiber and glass fiber could maintain their respective tensile strengths. However, after soaking in sodium chloride solution at 100 °C for 20 hours, the strength of basalt fiber decreased at a rate of only 32 MPa/h, while that of glass fiber decreased at a rate of 75 MPa/h. The salt-fog aging test was carried out on the prepared BFRP and GFRP. The results showed that after 168h aging, the leakage current of BFRP and GFRP at 12kV increased by 23% and 31%, respectively; the bending strength of BFRP and GFRP decreased by 4.1% and 6.3%, respectively; The dielectric loss tangent of BFRP and GFRP increased by 27% and 45%.

Conclusions

The sodium chloride solution aging test proved that continuous basalt fiber had higher salinity resistance than glass fiber. Also, by analyzing the changes of the bending strength and leakage current amplitude of the samples, it was indicating that BFRP had better salinity resistance properties than GFRP. BFRP can be used for core rods to meet the stringent requirements of quality reliability of composite crossarms in coastal areas.