Some 8 years or so ago my friend, entrepreneur and crazed genius inventor, Chippy, showed me some basalt fiberglass fabric. He declared that it had better properties than glass at a fraction of the cost. I understand that the factory burned down and I forgot about it.
Last week I got to meet Mike and Jenn building a cat in Portland, OR. Mike helps build wind generators. They are looking into basalt fabric. I include these links which I have not yet had time to explore. So.
http://www.basaltfm.com/eng/fiber/info.html
http://www.sudaglass.com/chars.html
http://www.basfiber.com/roving
“Check it out. My snowboard has this instead of carbon for stiffness. It is made by Lib Technologies.
http://www.lib-tech.com/technology/basalt/
I have found references that it is 1/4 the cost of Carbon. Though I have not contacted suppliers. I’ll see if this is true.
Other advantages~
Higher UV and heat resistance than carbon
RF Transparent (Military might like this)
non-conductive!!! (better to protect against lightning damage)
environmentally friendly, greenhouse gases released long ago from natural process” Mike
Yes, basalt fibres work well; in Italy a boat all basalt
http://www.tripesce29b.it/articolo_it.asp?id=6
it seems the matter is (in Europe): how much does it cost?
very cool.
When I was considering building a boat in ferro, I thought basalt would be a good alternative to steel because it won’t oxidize and further decay the structure. I think it’s the future of cementitious composite construction (including boats). I believe there’s a builder in South Africa building basalt-concrete cats, but I can’t find a link to their web site anymore.
I very much wonder how much this is being used in the concrete canoe competitions.
this basalt is not chunks. its a fabric like fiberglass.