Application of Basalt Fiber Composites in Civil Engineering
(I) Innovation in Concrete StructuresIn the field of civil engineering, concrete structures are an extremely important component. However, with the development of the Construction industry, the problem of construction waste is becoming increasingly prominent, with discarded concrete accounting for a considerable proportion. To achieve the low-carbon goal of the construction industry, the application of recycled concrete has gradually attracted attention. Nevertheless, recycled concrete has some defects in practical use, such as insufficient strength and poor durability.
The emergence of basalt fiber brings new hope for solving these problems. Due to its good corrosion resistance and high strength, when applied to concrete structures, Basalt fiber can significantly improve the performance of concrete. Studies have shown that basalt fiber can, to a certain extent, reduce the negative impact of defects in recycled concrete and significantly enhance its splitting tensile and flexural bearing capacity.
(II) Preferred Choice for Road and Bridge Reinforcement In road and bridge construction and maintenance, the performance of materials directly relates to the quality and service life of the project. Basalt fiber composite materials, with their unique advantages, have become the preferred choice for road and bridge reinforcement. This material, with resin as the matrix and basalt fiber as the reinforcing material, possesses excellent mechanical properties such as lightweight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and strong durability. These characteristics enable basalt fiber composite materials to maintain good performance when subjected to traffic loads and natural environmental erosion, effectively extending the service life of roads and bridges.
(III) Green Upgrade for Highway Construction As the core of the transportation industry, achieving low-carbon and energy-saving goals for highways is crucial. Currently, asphalt recycling technology has become an important means. Through the recycling of waste asphalt, not only can resources be saved, but construction costs can also be reduced, improving economic and ecological benefits. However, recycled asphalt mixtures are prone to early cracking and other diseases, affecting their road performance.
Researchers have found that the performance of recycled asphalt mixtures is significantly optimized when basalt fiber is incorporated. This finding not only increases the blending ratio of recycled asphalt but also enables the mixture to perform excellently in low-temperature crack resistance and high-temperature stability, greatly improving overall road performance. Furthermore, addressing the problem of hot-mix recycling technology generating a large amount of toxic gases, energy consumption, and environmental pollution during the mixing process, researchers have used warm-mix recycling technology to prepare basalt fiber asphalt mixtures, achieving good results and identifying the optimal temperature reduction range, providing a new solution for the green development of highway construction.
(IV) New Solution for Automobile Exhaust Purification Automobile exhaust has always been a decarbonization challenge faced by the transportation industry. Although the emergence of hybrid and new energy vehicles has brought some light to solving this problem, the problem of automobile exhaust pollution remains severe. In this context, some scholars have proposed using basalt fiber to purify automobile exhaust. Due to its large specific surface area and good heat resistance, basalt fiber can be used as a carrier, and catalysts can be loaded into the pores of the basalt fiber through pneumatic three-dimensional mixing technology, which increases the catalyst loading and reaction time. Research results show that this method achieves a purification efficiency of more than 98% for both carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide, demonstrating significant purification effects and providing a new way to reduce the environmental pollution and human harm caused by automobile exhaust.
