Glass Fiber Introduction Glass fiber was invented by Russell Games Slayter in thermal building insulation. There are many different compositions available but usually glass fibers are silica based (~50-60%) and a host of oxide(iron,aluminium,etc.) is also present in the fiber. It is cheap compared to other fibers and can be achieved in a variety of forms. Production Glass fiber is made by requiring raw materials melting in a hopper and transferring into molten glass. Raw materials are added into the hopper through batch mixing. After that some addition of other oxides are done and then the mixture is melted in the furnace. After achieving molten glass, it is passed through the electrically heated platinum bushings or crucibles to achieve fibers of required diameters. Usually there are 200 holes in the crucibles. Outcome after molten glass is passed through crucibles is wounded on a drum. The schematic of this production is shown in Fig.(1). F
CRYSTAL DEFECTS (IMPERFECTIONS) INTRODUCTION : Most Materials When solidified consist of many crystals and grains. Single crystals can be manufactured by withdrawing a crystal fragment under carefully controlled conditions just above freezing point. In case if single crystal approach a nearly perfect lattice structure it is possible to calculate theoretical strength of a metal by the force required to separate bonds between adjoining atoms. But due to defects in crystals , This theoretical value of strength obtained from single crystal would be 1000 times smaller than original crystal structure. Hence it is important to study the defects in crystals to know how they affect properties of materials TYPES OF DEFECTS Defect in a crystal can be defined as a deviation from its ideal structure. Defects in crystals can be broadly classified into 3 types based on their dimensionality · Zero dimensional defects or Point defects · One dimensional defects
