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Naive question - are these fibers pure glass, or some sort of composite? Are they flexible because of how thin they are, or is it an inherent property of some s
by jjcm 2y ago
Naive question - are these fibers pure glass, or some sort of composite? Are they flexible because of how thin they are, or is it an inherent property of some sort of composite?
The article mentions that these are just silicon dioxide, but my brain has trouble connecting the rigidity of glass as I know it with the flexibility of fiber.
- choilive 2y ago"Regular" pure glass fibers would be nearly as flexible. As an analogy - the same way that a solid steel rod would be strong, but if you make steel fibers that are very thin they can easily be shaped and bent. The material properties did not not change, just the difference between having a "lot" of something vs very little. In this case, dopants are added to the glass to improve its properties as a fiber optic cable and the processing itself is important to attain certain properties. But even without those added dopants regular silicon dioxide glass would make flexible glass fibers.
- ominous_prime 2y agoComposite fiberglass materials aren't flexible because of their composite structure, the layers and resin are there to increase strength and stiffness of an otherwise extremely pliable material. Think about fiberglass cloth or pink fiberglass insulation, glass strands get very flexible as the diameter decreases.