Fiberglass in Corrosion Market

According to the research, Corrosion of metals costs the U.S. economy $300 billion per year in maintenance, fiberglass chopped strand mat repair and replacement costs. Always an Achilles’ heel for manufacturers who work with metals, this massive problem plays to one of the composites industry’s greatest strengths. Corrosion prevention was one of the earliest applications for glass-reinforced plastics, championed by developers of highly corrosion-resistant isopolyester resin systems. Although that role has since been supplanted — especially in saltwater environments — by epoxy vinyl ester resins, manufacturers schooled in the use of composites continue to make inroads in several markets that have massive long-term potential.

One of the more lucrative strategies is refurbishing degraded municipal and industrial piping as aging infrastructure and postrecession budgets force maintenance decision makers in municipalities and industrial environments to look for options that are less drastic, disruptive and financially disabling than wholesale replacement.

In the case of exposed or aboveground piping, sheet composite is wrapped around the pipe, acting as reinforcement for pipe walls that have been thinned by corrosive attack. Sheets of carbon fiber fabric are fed through rollers that apply a two-part proprietary epoxy to the material. The fabric is then directly wound spirally or in bands around the pipe. The epoxy, which has about a two-hour pot life, saturates the fabric and adheres to the metal substrate, bonding the carbon fiber to the pipe.