ИСТИНА

Interest in studying of the basalt continuous fiber (BCF) is connected with the unique thermal (high temperature applications) and mechanical (high Young's modulus and strength, hardness, durability) properties of the reinforced plastics on their base. Basalt fibers have better tensile strength than the E-glass fibers, greater failure strain than the carbon fibers as well as good resistance to chemical attack. Furthermore, in contrast to glass fiber reinforced plastic, basalt fibers possess a high ability to crystallize and disintegrate into small particles, that greatly simplifies BFRP recycling. Although the first continuous glass fibers based on rocks were obtained in the middle of the 20th century the development of the BCF production technology is still hampered due to several problems (Fig.1):  high fluctuations of the batch chemical composition;  high temperature of fibers manufacturing because of high melting temperature of basalts (as a result high energy cost);  narrow fiber forming temperature range because of the high crystallization ability of basalt melts (as a result a low productivity of the technology and high cost of material). This paper presents the main directions in solving these problems. The possibility of modifying the chemical composition of rocks to produce continuous fibers is shown. Ion-exchange (or chemical tempering) method is shown, in which glasses containing small alkali ions, e.g. Na+, are treated in a molten salt containing large alkali ions, e.g. K+, at a temperature below the Tg. The main directions for the development of materials based on continuous basalt fibers are presented.