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Development market of glass fiber in various fields-2022
August 16, 2022
Glass fiber is the mainstream reinforcement material, and technology drives the upgrading of product structure
Traditional cars: lightweight and continuous penetration
Vehicle weight reduction is a long-term trend, and lightweighting is imperative. In the process of the development of the fiber reinforced automobile industry, lightweighting has always been an important area of concern for many parties. The reasons are as follows: Vehicle lightweighting is an important method and approach to save fuel and reduce emissions.
Glass fiber materials are lightweight and inexpensive, and are currently the first choice for lightweight automotive materials. Glass fiber reinforced composite materials have become one of the main raw materials for the automotive industry, and their advantages lie in excellent material properties, good economy, the possibility of mass supply, and good recyclability. Glass fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites have the advantages of low density, high design freedom, corrosion resistance, impact resistance and vibration absorption. Now the most commonly used long glass fiber reinforced materials can completely replace metal materials for front-end modules, achieving the purpose of lightening, and reducing the weight by 30~50%. At present, joint ventures such as Volkswagen and Mazda have been widely used. After switching to long glass fiber reinforced materials, both weight and cost have been significantly reduced, which can be described as "light and cheap".
Aerospace: Special high-performance glass fiber is indispensable, friend of metal materials
The proportion of aerospace composite materials is increasing year by year, and the advantages of special high-performance glass fibers are remarkable. At present, composite materials and three major metal materials such as aluminum alloy, steel and titanium alloy have become indispensable materials in the aviation industry. Whether it is a civil airliner or a military aircraft, high-performance glass fiber reinforced composite materials are required. This material has excellent mechanical properties, excellent fatigue and corrosion resistance, and excellent wave-transmitting dielectric properties; its structure is conducive to the overall Design and manufacture can achieve 20% to 30% structural weight reduction, which can reduce manufacturing costs while improving the efficiency and reliability of aircraft structures.
In addition to carbon/epoxy, glass fiber/epoxy composites, there are GLARE (glass fiber reinforced aluminum) composites, which are made of multiple layers of glass fiber and aluminum alloys bonded together, which are lighter than traditional aluminum alloys, but Have better corrosion resistance and impact resistance. At present, the use of composite materials in advanced military aircraft and civil passenger aircraft is rapidly increasing, and it is expected that the use of composite materials will exceed 50% of the total weight of aircraft in the future.
In the main load-bearing structural parts, glass fiber reinforced materials are mainly used for helicopter rotor blades, which improve the blade's tensile stiffness, flapping and sway stiffness and impact resistance; in the secondary load-bearing structural parts, glass fiber Reinforcing materials are mainly used in aircraft wing fixed leading edge, rudder, tail and tail cone and other components; in the interior, mainly composite materials made of high uniformity satin fibreglass woven fabric and flame retardant epoxy and phenolic It is used in parts such as floors and ceilings of aircraft. It has the characteristics of high specific strength and specific stiffness, and has obvious advantages of flame retardancy and low smoke.
Ships: small and medium-sized fishing boats ride the wind and waves, and glass fiber materials are in a vast blue ocean
Glass fiber reinforced material is the material for FRP fishing boats, and FRP fishing boats may represent the development trend of the fishing boat industry. The mainstream material of FRP fishing boat is glass fiber chopped mat. Compared with wood and metal materials, FRP not only meets the requirements of mechanical properties, but also has the characteristics of small weight, resistance to salt water corrosion, good thermal insulation performance, and strong designability. 1) In terms of sailing performance, FRP boats have stronger driving stability in waves and better wind resistance; under the same conditions, the speed of FRP fishing boats is 0.5-1.0 knots higher than that of steel fishing boats. 2) In terms of economy, the fuel consumption of FRP boats is smaller than that of steel and wooden fishing boats of the same size. The advantages of corrosion resistance and anti-aging of FRP itself also increase the life of FRP fishing boats. The theoretical life of FRP fishing boats is generally about 50 years, which is 4-5 times that of steel fishing boats, and the maintenance frequency and cost are far lower than those of steel fishing boats.
At present, the stock of wooden fishing boats in my country is huge, and the replacement of fishing boats will bring demand for fiberglass raw materials. At present, FRP fishing boats are the mainstream direction of fishing boats at home and abroad. In developed coastal countries in Europe and the United States, small and medium-sized wooden and metal fishing boats have been basically eliminated, and the proportion of FRP fishing boats is as high as 80% to 90%. With the advancement of "replacing steel with plastic", with such a large stock and such a low share, glass fiber reinforced materials for ships will face a vast "blue ocean".
Grasp the two main lines of overseas demand + short-cut thermoplastic, and expand production capacity in line with the lightweight market
The demand for overseas short-cut thermoplastic products has grown, and the production capacity of foreign local enterprises has been adjusted due to the increase in cost, which is beneficial to the increase of the company's overseas market share. In 2021, my country's total export of glass fiber and products will reach 1.683 million tons, a year-on-year increase of 26.5%; overseas demand has continued to boom since 2022, and the export volume in the first half of the year increased by 42.1% year-on-year to 1.079 million tons. In 2021, the company's overseas revenue will account for about 33%. In 2022, with the continuous release of overseas demand, the proportion is expected to increase significantly. In recent years, the European and American auto industry markets have recovered, and the demand for thermoplastic products has grown rapidly, while the supply capacity of local companies in Europe and the United States has not significantly improved; the surge in the cost of natural gas in Europe in 2022 will further aggravate the contradiction between supply and demand. Dependence has increased significantly. China Jushi realizes "supply from abroad" through production capacity in Egypt and the United States, and realizes "supply from abroad" from domestic shipping exports, and its overseas market share is expected to continue to increase.
The company has a complete range of thermoplastic glass fibers, which are widely used in automobiles, home appliances, infrastructure and other fields. In 2021, the proportion of the company's thermoplastic chopped products will increase rapidly, and the proportion of high-end products in the whole year will exceed 80%. In the future, with the continuous advancement of the domestic dual-carbon goal and the continued high demand in foreign countries, the demand for thermoplastic products, which are mainly beneficial for automotive lightweighting, is expected to maintain high growth, and the company's performance is expected to continue to improve.
The production capacity of chopped strands continues to expand, actively deploys the high-end market of thermoplastic composite products, and strives to achieve the company's 14th Five-Year Development Goal. In March 2021, the company plans to invest 1.796 billion yuan to build a construction project of a glass fiber chopped strand production line with an annual output of 150,000 tons; in February 2022, Jushi Chengdu will invest 1.798 billion yuan to build an annual output of 150,000 tons of glass fiber chopped strands. Production line construction project. At present, the above projects have all been put into production, which are dedicated to improving the production capacity of thermoplastic chopped fiber cutting, optimizing the product structure, and meeting the lightweight automobile market. In the future, the company will continue to focus on expanding production scale and upgrading product structure. The proportion of thermoplastic in roving at the end of the "14th Five-Year Plan" is expected to increase to 45%-50%; the overall realization of thermosetting roving, thermoplastic chopped strands, electronic yarn and electronic cloth "Three pillars" product structure.
