Resistance of basalt fibers to elevated temperatures and water or alkaline solution immersion

In this article, the effects of elevated temperatures treatment (135°C and 300°C for 4 h) and immersion in distilled water or strong alkaline solution (pH 12.6∼13) on the tensile properties of basalt fibers were investigated. As found, the elevated temperature treatment changed the short-distance order of the fibers, and thus reduced the tensile strength by 2.5% or 32.8% for 135°C or 300°C treated specimens, respectively. At the same time, the discreteness of the fibers was increased which was indicated by the shape parameters of the tensile strength according to the Weibull model. On the contrary, the tensile modulus was not affected by the studied elevated temperatures. Both distilled water and alkaline solution immersions brought in severe degradation in the tensile properties of the untreated and elevated temperature treated basalt fibers. Alkaline solution and high immersion temperatures showed more adverse effects on the degradation of the tensile properties. The basalt fibers immersed in distilled water suffered from etching, and the atom network of the basalt fiber were destroyed due to the hydrolysis of the SiOSi bonds by hydroxyl ion. POLYM. COMPOS., 39:2385–2393, 2018.