A Review On Basalt Fibre and Its Composites PDF

Composites Part B 74 (2015) 74e94
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Composites Part B
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A review on basalt fibre and its composites

V. Fiore a, *, T. Scalici a, G. Di Bella b, A. Valenza a
a
Department of “Ingegneria Civile, Ambientale, Aerospaziale, dei Materiali”, University of Palermo, 90128 Palermo, Italy
b
CNR ITAE, Via Salita Santa Lucia sopra Contesse 5, 98126 Messina, Italy
a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: In recent years, both industrial and academic world are focussing their attention toward the develop-
Received 2 October 2014 ment of sustainable composites, reinforced with natural fibres. In particular, among the natural fibres (i.e.
Received in revised form animal, vegetable or mineral) that can be used as reinforcement, the basalt ones represent the most
22 November 2014
interesting for their properties. The aim of this review is to illustrate the results of research on this topical
Accepted 30 December 2014
Available online 12 January 2015
subject. In the introduction, mechanical, thermal and chemical properties of basalt fibre have been
reviewed. Moreover, its main manufacturing technologies have been described. Then, the effect of using
this mineral fibre as reinforcement of different matrices as polymer (both thermoplastic and thermoset),
Keywords:
A. Polymerematrix composites (PMCs)
metal and concrete has been presented. Furthermore, an overview on the application of this fibre in
A. Metalematrix composites (MMCs) biodegradable matrix composites and in hybrid composites has been provided. Finally, the studies on the
A. Ceramicematrix composites (CMCs) industrial applications of basalt fibre reinforced composites have been reviewed.
Basalt fibre © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction the final product. As the cost, the chemical and mechanical prop-
erties depend from the composition of the raw material. Differ-
Basalt is a natural material that is found in volcanic rocks orig- ences in terms of composition and elements concentration give
inated from frozen lava, with a melting temperature comprised difference in thermal and chemical stability and more or less good
between 1500 and 1700 C [1,2]. Its state is strongly influenced by mechanical and physical properties [6].
the temperature rate of quenching process that leads to more or Overall, the manufacturing process of this kind of fibre is similar
less complete crystallization. to that of glass fibre, but with less energy consumed and no addi-
Perhaps 80% of basalts are made up by two essential minerals; tives, which makes it cheaper than glass or carbon fibres. Using a
i.e. plagiocene and pyroxene. natural volcanic basalt rock as raw material, basalt fibre is produced
Analyzing the chemical composition it is possible to observe by putting raw material into furnace where it is melted at
that SiO2 is the main constituent and Al2O3 is the second one [1,3,4]. 1450e1500 C. After this, the molten material is forced through a
In Table 1 is reported the typical composition, as identified by platinum/rhodium crucible bushings to create fibres. This tech-
Militky et al. [1] and Deak et al. [3]. nology, named continuous spinning, can offer the reinforcement
Basalt fibre, which was developed by Moscow Research Institute material in the form of chopped fibres or continuous fibres, that can
of Glass and Plastic in 1953e1954, is a high-tech fibre invented by be used in the textile field manufacturing process and have a great
the former Soviet Union after 30 years of research and develop- potential application to composite materials. In addition to the
ment, and its first industrial production furnace that adopted 200 ability to be easily processed using conventional processes and
nozzles drain board combination oven bushing process was equipments, the basalt fibres do not contain any other additives in a
completed in 1985 at Ukraine fibre laboratory [5]. single producing process, which makes additional advantage in
The base cost of basalt fibres varies in dependence of the quality cost [7].
and type of raw material, production process and characteristics of Blowing melt technologies are proposed for the production of
short and cheap basalt fibres characterized by poor mechanical
properties [3]. Continuous basalt fibres are produced by spinneret
method (see Fig. 1) similarly to glass fibres. Recently, Kim et al. [8]
* Corresponding author. Tel.: þ39 091 23863721; fax: þ39 091 7025020.
proposed melt-spinning method based on dielectric heating in
E-mail address: vincenzo.fi[email protected] (V. Fiore). order to produce fibres on laboratory scale.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2014.12.034
1359-8368/© 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
V. Fiore et al. / Composites Part B 74 (2015) 74e94 75
Table 1 particles, including fibres, occurs during handling. For simulation of

Typical composition of basal fibres (as reported by different authors [1,3]). these phenomena, the abrasion of basalt weaves was made by
Constituent Content [wt%] Militký et al. [1]. The experimental results showed that, because the
[1] [3]
mean value of fibre fragment diameter is the same as diameter of
fibres, no splitting of fibres during fracture occurs. The aspect ratio
SiO2 43.3e47 42.43e55.69
l/d of basalt fibre fragments is equal to 20.8, higher than the critical
Al2O3 11e13 14.21e17.97
Fe2O3 <5 10.80e11.68 value.
CaO 10e12 7.43e8.88 Overall basalt fibres show several advantages, which make them
MgO 8e11 4.06e9.45 a good alternative to glass fibres as reinforcing material in com-
Na2O <5 2.38e3.79
posites used in several fields such as marine, automotive, sporting
TiO2 <5 1.10e2.55
K2O <5 1.06e2.33 equipment, civil, etc. In particular, basalt fibres have mechanical
properties similar to those of glass ones (see Table 2).
Moreover, basalt fibres are non-combustible, they have high
chemical stability [4,15], and good resistance to weather, alkaline
The increasing application of basalt fibre raised the question
and acids exposure. Moreover, basalt fibres can be used from very
whether basalt fibre is harmful to health.
low temperatures (i.e. about 200 C) up to the comparative high
Even if asbestos and basalt fibres present similar composition,
temperatures (i.e. in the range 600e800 C) [3,7,16e18].
basalt seems to be safe, because of different morphology and sur-
The thermal stability that depend from the composition of the
face properties avoid any carcinogenic or toxicity effects, which are
raw material and the presence of a large amount of micro-pores
presented by asbestos instead [9,10]. In particular, Kogan et al. [11]
that prevent convection and thermal radiation of the air are rea-
made rats inhale air containing asbestos and basalt fibres for 6
sons to think to use basalt fibres fabrics in thermal insulation and
months. In the case of asbestos fibres at a dose of 1.7 g kg1
passive fire protection applications [6,19,20].
(referred to the body weight of the rat), one third of the animals
In particular, the thermal gravimetric analysis performed by Hao
died, while a dose of 2.7 g kg1 killed all the rats. In the case of the
and Yu [20] shows that the mass loss occurs in the temperature
basalt fibre, all the animals survived even when the dose reached
range of 200e350 C for both basalt and glass fibres (Fig. 2).
the 10 g kg1 concentration. Similar investigations were conducted
However, the basalt fibre has better thermal stability than glass
by McConnell et al. [12] and they also concluded that basalt fibres
fibre. In Table 3 the parameters of thermal decomposition of the
pose no risk to human beings.
fibres from analysis of TG curves are reported (To the onset tem-
It is know that the fibrous fragments with diameter (d) of 1.5 mm
perature of the decomposition, Ti the temperature at which the
or less and length (l) of 8 mm or greater should be handled and
mass loss is maximal, Tt the terminal temperature of the
disposed of using the widely accepted procedures for asbestos. Fi-
decomposition).
bres falling within the following three criteria are of concern [13]:
The main factor determining the heat temperature stability of
basalt fibres is their crystallization behaviour. Crystallization ability
fibres with diameters lower than 1.5 mm (some say <3.5 mm)
primarily depends on fibre chemical composition as well as heat
remain airborne and are respirable;
treatment conditions. In particular, due to its high content of iron
fibres with an l/d aspect ratio higher than 3 do not seem to cause
oxides, crystallization in basalt fibre begins with oxidation of
the serious problems associated with asbestos;
ferrous cations and formation of spinel structure phase on the fibre
fibres durable in the lungs do not cause problems if they are
surface: i.e. divalent cations (Ca2þ, Mg2þ, Fe2þ) diffuse from the
decomposed in the lungs.
interior to the surface where they react with environmental oxygen
forming nanocrystalline layers CaO, MgO, (Mg,Fe)3O4. Moreover,
Since most of nonpolymeric fibres have diameter significantly
with increasing temperature the crystallization of pyroxene phases
higher than 3.5 mm but break into long thin pieces, emission of
takes place on the spinel crystals, which act as nucleation sites. The
crystallization of continuous basalt fibre during heat treatment was
studied in details [21,22]. It is worth nothing that the crystallization
ability of basalt fibre can be selectively controlled by doping with
other elements: for instance, the effect of zirconium oxide on the
crystallization and thermal stability of basalt fibres was analyzed by
Lipatov et al. [23].
For the first time, the chemical durability of basalt fibre was
studied by Ramachandran et al. as early as 1981 [24]. The authors
stated that this fibre has excellent resistance to alkaline attack, but
it has poor resistance to acids. The better mechanical behaviour of
the basalt fibres than glass ones after corrosion treatments was
then shown by Nasir et al. [25]. Even if the corrosion mechanism is
Table 2
E-Glass and basalt fibres properties compared (reproduced with permission
from [14]).
E-glass Basalt
Density (g/cm3) 2.56 2.8

Elastic modulus (GPa) 76 89
Fig. 1. A simplified scheme of a basalt fiberization processing line: 1) crushed stone
Tensile strength (GPa) 1.4e2.5 2.8
silo; 2) loading station; 3) transport system; 4) batch charging station; 5) initial melt
Elongation to fracture (%) 1.8e3.2 3.15
zone; 6) secondary heat zone with precise temperature control; 7) filament forming
Specific E modulus (GPa per g/cm3) 30 31.78
bushings; 8) sizing applicator; 9) strand formation station; 10) fibre tensioning station;
Specific tensile strength (GPa per g/cm3) 0.5e1 1
11) automated winding station (reproduced with permission from [3]).
76 V. Fiore et al. / Composites Part B 74 (2015) 74e94
hybrid material, with the aim to modify the basalt fibres by the
synthesized epoxy/SiO2 hybrid material. The experimental results
showed that the hybrid coating is formed on the surface of the
basalt fibres, the surface roughness of basalt fibres is increased and
the tensile strength of basalt fibre multifilament yarn is improved.
In particular, when the content of SiO2 was 5%, the modification
effect has reached its best performance.
Another feature of the basalt fibres is their good compatibility
with the matrix materials even if there are some research focused
on the surface treatment of these fibres in order to modify their
surface morphology and improve their wettability with the matrix
material [30,31].
2. Polymer matrices
2.1. Thermoset polymer
In these last years, basalt fibres were used as reinforcement of

Fig. 2. TGA curves for glass and basalt fibres (reproduced with permission from [20]). thermoset polymers as epoxy, polyester and vinyl ester resins to
manufacture composite structures useful in several applications.
In particular, due to its good features as mechanical properties,
resistance to moisture absorption and to corrosive liquids and en-
similar, the degradation in E-glass fibres is more severe and it is
vironments, durability in service and great versatility, the epoxy
concluded that basalt fibres would be a suitable replacement in
resin has been the thermoset polymer most commonly investigated
corrosive environments. However, other authors showed better
as matrix for basalt fibre reinforced composites.
resistance of the basalt fibres in acid environment rather than in
Lopresto et al. [32] compared the quasi-static mechanical
alkali one [4].
properties of two epoxy laminates manufactured through vacuum
The ageing of glass and basalt fibres with different chemical
bag method: i.e. reinforced with E-glass and basalt plain weave
constitutions in NaOH and cement solutions was carried out by
fabrics. Due to the different areal weight of the fabrics used (i.e.
Scheffler et al. [16]. They showed that the corrosion in NaOH so-
200 g/cm2 and 290 g/cm2 for basalt and glass, respectively),
lution leads to a strong dissolution of the outer layer of the glass
different number of plies were impregnated to obtain laminates
and basalt fibres, whereas during ageing in cement solution at the
with the same thickness. The fibre volume fractions were measured
same pH-value a limited, local attack is revealed. In particular, in
through matrix burning tests resulting in values of 51% and 46%
NaOH solution the failure stress steadily decreases, being inter-
respectively for basalt and glass laminates. The experimental re-
rupted by phases of increasing stresses. In contrast, the filaments in
sults showed a high performance of the basalt material in terms of
cement solution do not reveal decreasing failure stresses over a vast
young modulus (Fig. 4), compressive and bending strength, impact
interval of temperature and time.
force and energy (Fig. 5). The authors stated that the mechanical
Rybin et al. [26] showed that the zirconia coating slows down
behaviour of both the analyzed systems in terms of stiffness seems
the corrosion of basalt fibre in alkali solution, with higher extent by
not to be influenced by the specific test so that the small variations
applying dense zirconia coating than the porous coating on fibre
in impact response are simply due to the difference in fibre volume
surface. Moreover, the uncoated and coated basalt fibres were used
fraction.
as reinforcements in cement matrix showing that the surface of the
Furthermore, the short-beam strength tests confirmed a quite
coated fibre is affected by the alkaline medium of the cement
good interfacial adhesion between basalt fibres and epoxy matrix,
matrix to a smaller extent than the surface of as-received basalt
not worse than the one between E-glass and epoxy matrix.
fibre.
Dorigato and Pegoretti [33] compared the quasi static tensile
High modulus, good strength and elastic behaviour make also
and fatigue properties of epoxy based laminates reinforced with
this kind of fibres a good alternative to the traditional ones and in
woven fabrics of basalt, E-glass and carbon fibres with the same
particular, continuous basalt fibres are competitive with glass fibres
areal density (i.e. 200 g/m2). All the laminates were prepared by
[3]. In Fig. 3, the tensile test diagrams of E-glass (GF), short basalt
means of vacuum bagging technique, thus obtaining volume fibre
fibres (SB) and continuous basalt fibres from three different man-
content equal to 63.5%, 56.3% and 61.3% for carbon, glass and basalt
ufacturers (CB1, CB2, CB3) are shown. All tested fibres have a rigid
reinforced epoxy, respectively. The experimental result showed
behaviour, without plastic deformation. The tensile modulus and
that the basalt fibres laminates present elastic moduli and strength
strength of continuous basalt fibres and glass fibre are quite similar,
values higher than those of the corresponding laminates reinforced
while short basalt fibres are considerably less stiff.
with glass fibres, with tensile strength values near to that of carbon
Several authors showed how this kind of fibre, in terms of
resistance and moduli, is comparable or better than glass fibres. For
this reason, it is possible to consider them as a valid alternative to Table 3
those one [10]. Parameter of thermal decomposition of basalt and glass fibres obtained from TG
curves (reproduced with permission from [20]).
The mechanical strength of basalt fibres is thought to be closely
related to the presence of surface heterogeneities such as surface Glass Basalt
flaws, structure defects and impurities [27]. These heterogeneities To ( C) 163.3 204.9
make the measured mechanical properties remarkably lower than Ti ( C) 300.8 324.1
their maximum theoretical values. Wei et al. [28,29] have synthe- Tt ( C) 850.3 795.7
sized by Sol-Gel method coatings made from pure epoxy and SiO2 original mass (mg) 7.74 8.67
loss of mass (%) 1.76 0.74
nanoparticle modified epoxy composite and from epoxy/SiO2
Fig. 5. Absorbed impact energy and maximum impact force of basalt and E-glass
composites (reproduced with permission from [32]).
in this work. The experimental results showed that the basalt

reinforced epoxy composite had higher tensile, compressive and
interlaminar shear strength than glass composite. Moreover, the
good bonding between basalt fibres and epoxy resin, determined
by inter-laminar shear strength (Fig. 6) and Young's modulus test,
had a positive influence on the abrasive wear behaviour whereas
glass reinforced composites were detrimental to abrasive wear due
to poor bonding between fibres and resin.
Fig. 3. Typical tensile diagrams of basalt and glass fibre tensile tests (reproduced with Shokrieh and Memar [35] analyzed the stress corrosion behav-
permission from [3]).
iour of basalt/epoxy composites, manufactured by filament wind-
ing method, under bending loading and submerged in 5% sulphuric
fibres based laminates. The investigation of the fatigue behaviour acid corrosive medium. In particular, they applied three states of
indicated higher performances of the laminates reinforced with stress, equal to 30%, 50% and 70% of the ultimate strength of
basalt fabrics with respect to the corresponding glass fibre com- composites showing that the strength of composites degrades by
posites, with an improved capability of sustaining progressive time and, when loading is more than 50% of the ultimate strength,
damaging and slightly higher damping properties. the degradation is accelerated. Moreover, degradations of bending
With the aim to determine their acceptability in tribological strength, bending modulus and fracture energy were modelled by
applications, the two-body abrasive wear behaviour of basalt and exponential functions. Broken cross sections of samples were
glass fabric-reinforced epoxy composites was also investigated studied by microscopic observations, and extreme effects of plas-
[34]. In particular, both composites were prepared by hand layup ticization on samples have been observed.
technique using basalt and E-glass plain weave fabrics with areal The tolerance of basalt-fibre-reinforced epoxy composites to-
weight equal to 150 g/m2 and 360 g/m2, respectively. Fibre weight wards salt water immersion, moisture absorption, temperature and
fractions of 53.4% and 57.8% and void volume content of 3.59% and moisture cycling was investigated by Liu et al. [36]. To this aim, the
1.98% were found for basalt and glass fabric-reinforced epoxy authors used two twill fabrics (i.e. basalt and glass) with the same
composites, respectively. The quasi-static tensile, compressive and weave pattern and yarn ratio in both warp and weft directions and
inter-laminar shear properties of the composites were investigated two polymers (i.e. epoxy resin and vinyl ester) as matrix, thus
manufacturing four composites having the same fibre volume
fraction (i.e. 37.7%).
The authors have selected these epoxy and vinyl ester resins
because are very common, low cost, and they have high heat re-
sistances (i.e. heat distortion temperature of epoxy resin equal to
74 C, glass transition temperature of vinyl ester equal to 99 C).
Overall, epoxy resins are more expensive, but show better me-
chanical properties and higher resistance to moisture absorption,
to corrosive liquids and to environmental agents, if compared
with the vinyl ester resins. Another positive aspect of the epoxy
resins is their low shrinkage during the curing process: i.e. the
vinyl ester resins shrink up to 12% in volume whereas the epoxy
resins shrink less than 5%. Due to the absence of styrene, the
epoxy resins have significantly less toxic emissions than the vinyl
ester ones during the curing process, making possible their use
also with “open-mold” manufacturing technologies (e.g. hand lay
up or vacuum bagging). As regard the seawater resistance, the
Fig. 4. Comparison of tensile, flexural and compressive Young modulus between basalt vinyl ester resins show comparable behaviour than the epoxy
and E-glass fibre composites (reproduced with permission from [32]). ones.
advantages in allowing a better predictability of impact damage

patterns.
The degradation in seawater of epoxy composites reinforced
will basalt and glass plain weave fabrics and fabricated using the
hot-pressing process, was compared monitoring both the mass gain
ratio and the strength maintenance ratio [39]. In particular, the
samples were immersed in an artificial seawater, prepared by
mixing the sea salt with distilled water and the salt concentration
was controlled at 6% in weight, at a temperature of 25 C up to 90
days. In general, they showed that the anti-seawater corrosion
property of the basalt fibre reinforced composites was almost the
same as that of the glass fibre reinforced ones (Fig. 7). Based on the
experimental results, the authors explored possible corrosion
mechanisms, indicating that an effective lowering of the Fe2þ
content in the basalt fibre could lead to a higher stability for the
Fig. 6. Interlaminar shear strength of laminated composites (reproduced with basalt fibre reinforced composites in a seawater environment.
The chemical durability of unidirectional basalt fibre reinforced
epoxy composites was studied by Wang et al. [40]. To this aim,
Tensile and short beam tests were carried out showing that, composites were immersed in eight kinds of chemical mediums
after a 240 days' ageing in salt water or water, a slight but sig- (i.e. 30% vitriol, 5% hydrochloric acid, 5% nitric acid, 10% sodium
nificant decrease in Young's modulus and tensile strength of hydroxide, saturated sodium carbonate solution, 10% ammonia,
basalt composites was found. Freezeethaw cycling up to 199 acetone and distilled water) for 15, 30, and 90 days at room tem-
cycles did not change the shear strength significantly, but ageing perature and the monitoring of the flexural properties was carried
in hot (40 C) salt water or water made the shear strength of out after each period of immersion. Experiment results showed
basalt composites decrease. The ageing results indicated that that the corrosion behaviour of the composites differs greatly due
both the interfacial region in basalt composites can be more to the different corrosion mechanisms of basalt fibre in acid and
vulnerable to damage than that in glass composites and the alkali mediums.
interfacial region of basalt reinforced composites requires modi- In particular, in alkali mediums, the flexural modulus keeps
fication prior to use in long-term applications involving exposure close to the original value while the flexural strength declines
to water. gradually. In acid mediums the flexural strength and flexural
He et al. [37] analyzed the impact damage modes and the post- modulus decline in the same way.
impact mechanical properties of three epoxy based composites: i.e. De la Rosa Garcia et al. [41] proved the good behaviour of epoxy
reinforced by S-2 glass, aramid and basalt fibres. In particular, all based composites reinforced with basalt unidirectional fibre as
the unidirectional laminates were produced by hot-press moulding bending reinforcement of pine timber beams.
procedure, thus obtaining the same fibre volume fraction (i.e. 60%). Kim [42,43] studied the possibility of utilizing basalt chopped
The impact damage was induced by the Charpy pendulum machine fibre in order to prepare thermally stable composites using a bi-
with the un-notched specimens whereas the post-impact were component resin system based on epoxy and benzoxazine mono-
analyzed by carrying out three-point bending tests in the directions mer or two different curing systems for bisphenol F type epoxy
both of impact face and back face of the specimens. The experi- resin (i.e. an epoxy-amine curing system and an epoxy-anhydride
mental results showed that, under low velocity impact, glass curing system).
reinforced beam have a mutational damage evolution whereas Basalt fibre was used also to reinforce biobased epoxy resins by
damage is similar in basalt and glass beams at the initial stage. At Espana et al. [44]. In particular, they studied the influence of
the high impact energy, basalt laminate exhibited a progressive different silane coupling agents on the mechanical properties of
damage with the fibres on the back face tension fractured layer by
layer and aramid beam also displays a progressive evolution.
The reduction in residual flexural modulus is slightly larger than
that in strength, especially for aramid reinforced beam. The
discrepancy between the reductions in the flexural properties in
the direction of the back face and those of the impact face was
larger for aramid beam than that for glass and basalt ones. How-
ever, all these three composites beams showed a similar variation
law in residual flexural properties as the function of impact energy.
The comparison of damage features caused by impacts on glass
and basalt fibre reinforced laminates has been reported in the pa-
per of Sfarra et al. [38]. The analysis of hysteresis cycles obtained
from falling weight impact tests has been assisted by non-
destructive techniques, in particular interferometric and thermo-
graphic techniques, which all gave a distinctive contribution to the
study. The authors showed that the increased directionality of
impact damage observed in basalt fibre reinforced composites,
slightly superior to glass fibre reinforced ones, may represent a
limitation on the predictability of their behaviour. The experi-
mental results suggest that the production of glass/basalt fibre
hybrids in different configurations, though presenting an increased Fig. 7. Tensile strength of the seawater treated samples as a function of immersion
manufacturing complexity, would nonetheless present additional time (reproduced with permission from [39]).
composite laminates made from a commercial epoxy resin having results showed that the wettability of the basalt fibre was
55% of its molecular structure originating from plants and basalt remarkably increased, accompanied by physical etching and by the
woven fabrics. formation of chemical functional groups containing oxygen and
The scientific literature also includes work regarding modifica- nitrogen on the fibre surface. The interlaminar fracture toughness
tions of epoxy resin systems or chemical treatments of basalt fibres of basalt/epoxy woven composites was improved by oxygen plasma
to improve the mechanical properties of composites. treatment and SEM micrographs of the fractured surface showed
Chen et al. [45] analyzed the influence of functionalized multi- that epoxy resin adhered well around the basalt fibres of the oxy-
walled carbon nanotubes on the properties of cross-ply epoxy gen plasma-treated specimen compared to that of the untreated
laminates reinforced with basalt fibres and functionalized multi- specimen. Based on the experimental results, the author stated that
walled carbon nanotubes. They showed that the reinforcement an adhesive force between fibre/resin interfaces was improved by
effects of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the composite elastic oxygen plasma treatment, and this increased the interlaminar
modulus exceeded micromechanics based semi-empirical pre- fracture toughness of basalt/epoxy woven composites.
dictions and were independent of surface functionalization. This Ary Subargia et al. [51] studied the effect of different tourmaline
work demonstrated the feasibility of in situ alignment and micro/nano particle loading, with and without a surfactant to
dispersion of functionalized nanotubes in multi-scale epoxy based better disperse the tourmaline particles, on the mechanical prop-
laminates reinforced with basalt fibres. erties of epoxy composite laminate reinforced with basalt fibres. In
Kim et al. [46] investigated the effect of the silane and acid particular, all the investigated composites were manufactured by a
treatments of multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the flexural and vacuum assisted transfer resin moulding method, by using as
fracture behaviours of epoxy/basalt composites. To this aim, flex- reinforcement woven basalt fabrics having areal density equal to
ural and mode I fracture tests were performed using acid-treated 210 g/cm2. The experimental results showed that significant
and silane-treated carbon nanotube/epoxy/basalt composites, improvement in both tensile and flexural strength and modulus
respectively. The results showed that the flexural properties and was achieved when tourmaline particles were incorporated in the
fracture toughness of silane-treated carbon nanotube/epoxy/basalt basalt/epoxy composite: i.e. the best result was obtained at 1% in
composites are higher than those of acid-treated carbon nanotube/ weight of tormaline loading with surfactant. The authors stated
epoxy/basalt composites. SEM examination revealed that the that the enhanced performances of the laminates were due to a
improvement in the flexural and fracture properties of silane- good dispersion of tourmaline particles in the epoxy matrix that
treated carbon nanotube/epoxy/basalt composites occurred due provided increased surface area for strong interfacial interaction
to enhanced dispersion and interfacial interaction between the and good load transfer.
silane-modified carbon nanotubes and the epoxy resin used as Varley et al. [52] compared different modification methods to
matrix. better understand the influence of matrixefibre interaction on the
Kim et al. [47] showed also that the addition of the acid-treated mechanical properties of epoxy-basalt composites. In particular,
carbon nanotubes improves the wear properties of basalt/epoxy they employed two basic strategies: i.e. the first was to apply
woven composites, due to the homogeneous load transfer between colloidal silica to increase the surface roughness of the fibre,
basalt fibres and epoxy matrix mixed with 1% in weight of carbon whereas the second to chemically attach an epoxy silane to the
nanotubes. fibre surface using sol gel methods. In addition to this, a hybrid
Lee et al. [48] showed the better tensile and thermal properties approach which combined these two strategies was used and,
of silanized carbon nanotube/woven basalt/epoxy composites in finally, this hybrid functionalized surface of the fibre was further
comparison with those of unmodified and acid modified carbon modified through the addition of triethylenetetramine (Fig. 8).
nanotube based composites. The effect of nano-reinforcements on In order to use basalt reinforced composites for structural ap-
mode-I interlaminar fracture toughness of quasi-uniaxial basalt plications, some authors have compared the use as matrices of
fibre-reinforced epoxy laminates, manufactured by filament epoxy resins and vinyl ester ones. In particular, Czigany et al. [53]
winding method followed by vacuum bag to consolidate the part investigated mechanical and failure behaviour of basalt fibre mat-
and bleed out excess resin, was studied by Bashar et al. [49]. In reinforced composites with vinyl ester and vinyl ester/epoxy
particular, a 50 mm thin ethylene tetrafluoroethylene film insert hybrid resins as a function of resin hybridization and treatment of
was placed at the mid-plane of each laminate investigated, as a basalt fibre surface. In particular, the composites, with weight fibre
crack initiator. An organically modified sodium-montmorillonite content equal to 30%, were produced by resin transfer moulding
nanoclay and an acrylic based tri-block-copolymer were chosen method obtaining. Two coupling agents were used to improve the
for this study from among the many different nano-reinforcements adhesion of basalt fibres towards the resins used: i.e. the first one
available. The authors showed that the fracture energy of the bulk contained epoxy functional groups and the second one vinyl
epoxy nanocomposites significantly increased with acrylic tri- functional groups. In the hybrid resin system, the vinyl ester/epoxy
block-copolymer addition but remained unchanged with incorpo- ratios were set equal to 1 to 3, 1 to 1 and 3 to 1, respectively. The
ration of nanoclay. Moreover, delamination fracture toughness was experimental results showed that the toughness of the brittle vinyl
not influenced by the presence of nanoparticles in the matrix. The ester was effectively improved by hybridizing with a suitable epoxy
decrease fibre volume fraction, on the other hand, significantly resin. The authors stated that the hybrid resin systems in the
improved interlaminar fracture energy since the rigid fibres in studied range possess an interpenetrating network structure,
these composites constrict the stress field ahead of the crack. which may be very advantageous in fibre-reinforced composites. In
Hence, increasing resin content enhanced composite delamination particular, it was established that for the ratio of 1 to 1 vinyl ester/
energy by increasing the capacity for matrix deformation. epoxy hybrid resin-based composites both strength and toughness
Kim et al. [50] studied the effects of surface treatment of a basalt could be enhanced at the same time when using surface treated
fibre by low-temperature atmospheric oxygen plasma on the basalt fibres. Moreover, the authors proved that the shape and size
interlaminar fracture behaviour of basalt/epoxy woven composites. of the damage zone in the composites, detected by location of the
The basalt-woven fabrics used in this study were firstly placed in an acoustic emission activity, are independent both of the type of
acetone bath and washed in distilled water with ultrasonication to treatment of basalt fibre surface and of the resin composition.
remove surface sizing agents, then they were treated by low- Colombo et al. [54] studied the static and fatigue properties of
temperature atmospheric oxygen plasma. The experimental basalt fibre composites, using as matrix vinyl ester and epoxy
Fig. 8. SEM micrographs of the multi-ply basalt compression laminates after failure for the (a) clean fibre, (b) the silane modified fibre, (c) the colloidal/silica modified fibre, (d) the
colloidal/silica/silane modified fibre, and (e) the colloidal/silica/amine-modified fibre (reproduced with permission from [52]).
resins. In particular, the technique used for composites in comparison with E-glass ones but also a lower flexural strength
manufacturing is the vacuum infusion process and both the and similar electrical properties.
panels showed fibre volume ratio equal to 50%. Different kinds of The compression behaviours of plain woven basalt/vinyl ester
mechanical tests are planned and performed: static tensile and resin composites under high strain rates have been investigated
compression tests, static delamination tests, classical and step- experimentally and by use of finite element analyses by Zhang et al.
wise fatigue tests. The epoxy composites evidenced higher me- [56]. From the results of the finite element, the authors concluded
chanical properties with respect to vinyl ester and the failure that the plain woven fabric structure and the rate dependent be-
mode is more compact, since fibres do not tend to explode, as haviours of the matrix are the key factors which affect the strain
shown in Fig. 9. Moreover, considering fatigue curves, it was rate sensitivity of the compressive properties.
evident a similar trend of fatigue curves of the two composites De Rosa et al. [57] studied the post-impact performances of two
compared specimens. vinyl ester based composites: i.e. one based on woven fabric basalt
Thanks to their good properties, also vinyl ester resin have been fibres, the other on woven fabric E-glass fibres. As in the previous
widely used as matrix for basalt fibre reinforced composites. Car- work, the basalt and E-glass fabrics were plain weave fabrics with
misciano et al. [55] carried out a comparative study on basalt and E- specific areal weight equal to 220 g/m2 and the matrix used was a
glass woven fabric reinforced epoxy based vinyl ester resin. In Bisphenol-A epoxy based vinyl ester resin. The laminates were
particular, the authors used in this study fabrics with the same manufactured by resin transfer moulding method and the fibre
specific areal density (i.e. 220 g/m2). The laminates were manu- volume fraction for both composites was equal to 0.38. First the
factured by resin transfer moulding method thus achieving fibre non-impacted specimens were subjected to interlaminar shear
volume fraction equal to 0.28 for both composites. The mechanical stress and flexural tests, then mechanical tests were repeated on
properties of the composites were evaluated by carrying out three laminates impacted using a falling weight tower at three impact
point bending tests and short beam tests whereas the electrical energies (i.e. 7.5, 15 and 22.5 J). Tests were also monitored using
properties carrying out measurements of the complex permittivity acoustic emission analysis of signal distribution with load and with
of the materials versus frequency. The experimental results showed distance from the impact point. The experimental results showed
higher flexural modulus and apparent interlaminar shear strength similar both damage tolerance to impact and also their post-impact
Fig. 9. (a) Basalt-vinyl ester and (b) basalt-epoxy broken specimens after static tensile tests (reproduced with permission from [54]).
residual properties after impact did not differ much, with a slight the basalt fibre reinforced composites. The acid-treated basalt fibre
superiority for basalt fibre reinforced laminates. Moreover, the reinforced composite had greater impact strength (i.e. the impact
authors stated that the principal difference is represented by the energy absorbed in breaking, referred to the original cross-
presence of a more extended delamination area on E-glass fibre sectional area of the specimen).
reinforced laminates than on basalt fibre reinforced ones. The responses of basalt unsaturated polyester laminates under
As for epoxy, also vinyl ester resins were modified to improve static three-point bending loading and low-velocity impact were
their compatibility with basalt fibres. analyzed in the work of Gideon et al. [61]. Three kinds of laminates
In particular, Yusriah et al. [58] studied the effects of hollow (i.e. unidirectional, cross-ply and woven laminates) were fabricated
polymeric microspheres on specific mechanical properties and by hand lay-up process and hot pressed under pressure. On the
thermal properties of glass, basalt, and carbon woven fabric rein- basis of the experimental data, the authors concluded that unidi-
forced vinyl ester composites. The experimental results showed rectional laminate was superior to the woven and cross-ply in static
that the specific flexural and specific impact strength of the com- loading while cross-ply and woven laminates was superior in dy-
posites were marginally increased with the addition of hollow namic loading, respectively. It was also observed that the failure of
polymeric microspheres. On the other hand, it was found a unidirectional laminates was along the fibre direction while, for
reduction of the flexural modulus. The thermal stability of the neat cross-ply and woven, the damage was localized around the
vinyl ester was improved with the addition of woven glass and impacted locations.
carbon, but was consequently reduced with the further inclusion of Gideon et al. [62] also studied the damage behaviours of plain-
hollow polymeric microspheres. On the basis of the experimental woven basalt-unsaturated polyester laminates under low-velocity
data, the authors stated that the major reinforcing effect of the impact from experimental at varying the impact energy and
woven fibre-reinforced vinyl ester composites was governed by the finite-element approach. The finite-element method results were
type of fibre used, while the addition of hollow polymeric micro- in good accord with the experimental results regarding peak force,
spheres enhanced the ductility of the composites. maximum absorbed energy and damage area.
As discussed above, studies on the use of basalt fibres as re- The mechanical properties (i.e. tensile, flexural and impact
inforcements of thermoset polymer composites have been per- properties) and the thermal stability of basalt fibre reinforced
formed using as matrix mainly epoxy resins and, in some cases, poly(butylene succinate) composites were studied by Zhang et al.
vinyl ester ones. Polyester resin can also be used for reinforcement [63]. To this aim, composites with fibre contents up to 15% in vol-
due to its advantages like cost effective, easiness in processability, ume have been fabricated by injection moulding method.
lower density. Nevertheless, few informations are available in the The good thermal stability of basalt fibres allows to apply an
literature on the use of basalt fibres as a reinforcement of polyester additional heat treatment (i.e. partial pyrolysis in nitrogen at high
resins. temperatures) to a polymer matrix composite, which yields a
However, it is worth nothing that the first published paper of the ceramic matrix composite with enhanced resistance to oxidation.
study on the basalt fibre as a possible polymer reinforcing material
To this aim, Cerný et al. used polysiloxane resins as matrix pre-
was be focused on the effect of the use of silane coupling agents on cursors in several recent works [64e67].
the mechanical properties of polyester based composites [59]. It is worth noting that total pyrolytic transformation (i.e. the
Manikandan et al. [60] studied the effect of fibre surface mod- transformation of an organic into an inorganic material) of siloxane
ifications on the mechanical properties of unsaturated polyester takes place only above 1000 C. The exposure of the basalt fibres to
reinforced with basalt and glass fabrics. In particular, composites this temperature is inappropriate since the amorphous fibre
both with and without acid (i.e. H2SO4) and alkali (i.e. NaOH) showed a pronounced creep and the formation of crystalline phases
treatments of the fabrics (plain weave with areal weight equal to which causes the brittleness of the fibres, in the temperature range
220 g/m2), were manufactured using the hand layup technique at of 600e700 C [64]. For this reason, the process of partial pyrolysis
room temperature. Tensile, shear and impact tests were performed (i.e. partial transformation of the matrix from polymer to refractory
on the composites investigated. The results showed that the per- silicon oxycarbide) must be developed at the temperature of at
formance of basalt fibre reinforced composites with unsaturated most 750 C.
polyester is superior to the glass fibre reinforced composite. In particular, they studied the heat resistant of composites
Moreover, the acid-treated basalt fibre reinforced composite shows reinforced with continuous basalt fibres made by incomplete py-
higher tensile strength values than other combinations, the glass rolysis of a polysiloxane matrix, also analyzing the effect of the fibre
fibre composite is much more affected by the alkali treatment than lubrication [65]. To this aim, unidirectional composites were
fabricated by the wet-winding method and the obtained poly- based on furfuryl alcohol, which is less toxic component. Besides,
merematrix composites were further pyrolyzed in a nitrogen at- the eco-formulations can reduce up to 50% of CO combustion.
mosphere to 650 C or 750 C. In order to assess their thermal Lopez De Vergara et al. [68] studied the impact behaviour of
stability, some specimens, were exposed to hot air at 650 C or basalt fibre reinforced furan composites manufactured by micro-
750 C for up to 240 h prior to measuring their properties. wave technology showing that the microwave cured composites
The experimental results showed that the flexural strength of presents higher values for interlaminar shear strength, delamina-
composites is sensitive to the presence of fibre lubrication and to tion threshold force, maximum load and penetration threshold
the pyrolysis temperature: i.e. both removal of lubrication and than the conventionally cured ones.
increasing of the heat treatment temperature from 650 to 750 C
were found to diminish the flexural strength. Moreover, the py- 2.2. Thermoplastic polymer
rolysis temperature was more determining for matrix-governed
elastic properties (i.e. shear modulus) than for those dominated The scientific literature reports also thermoplastic-based com-
by the fibres (i.e. Young's modulus). It was also shown that a rela- posites reinforced with basalt fibres. In particular, polypropylene
tively short exposition to hot air (i.e. 4 h at 750 C) both deterio- and polyethylene have been widely used as thermoplastic matrices
rated the flexural strength of the composites studied in this work for basalt fibres.
and changed the failure mode to brittle fracture. For the first time, Botev et al. [69] studied a series of
In Ref. [66] the authors studied the effect of several types of the commercial-grade polypropylenes filled with different contents of
pyrolysis process (i.e. from the simple curing at 250 C up to the short basalt fibres, using as coupling agent a poly(propylene-g-
treatment by total pyrolysis at the final temperature of 1000 C) on maleic anhydride), to determine the suitability of untreated short
the mechanical properties of composites manufactured similarly to basalt fibres as a reinforcing agent for polypropylenes and to
those studied in the previous work. The highest flexural strength at observe the variation of viscoelastic properties of the composites
room temperature was found for the composite treated by partial prepared.
pyrolysis at 650 C, showing an outstanding fracture resistance. As reported in Table 4, the composites with no coupling agent
Nevertheless, the composite pyrolyzed at 750 C was found to be showed deterioration of stress and strain at yield with increasing of
more suitable for high-temperature applications, because of its the fibre content whereas the impact strength was fourfold higher
slower degradation (Fig. 10). than that of unfilled polypropylene. On the other hand, it was
In a more recent work [67], the same authors analyzed two observed that the tensile properties of the obtained materials and
variants of the matrix precursor (i.e. polymethylsiloxane and pol- their impact strengths increased significantly with increasing of the
ymethylphenylsiloxane resins) in the manufacture of basalt plain amount of the coupling agent in the blend.
weave fabric/polysiloxane composites. After this first work, several authors focused their attention on
As in the previous work, in order to find favourable mechanical the study of mechanical properties of polypropylene filled with
properties of the developed materials, several pyrolysis processes basalt fibres. In particular, Szabo and Czigany [70] investigated the
differing in the achieved maximum temperature were evaluated. static properties of polypropylene composites reinforced with
The experimental results showed that the composite with methy- different short mineral fibres (i.e. basalt and ceramic) and with
phenylsiloxane precursor exhibits favourable mechanical proper- different reinforcing contents. Matko et al. [71] used commercial
ties after final pyrolysis temperatures in the range of 650e750 C. In and non-commercial (i.e. reactive surfactants prepared in labora-
the case of the composite with polymethylsiloxane matrix precur- tory) maleic anhydride derivatives as coupling agents, to improve
sor, the best mechanical properties were achieved by pyrolysis the adhesion between basalt short fibres and polypropylene matrix.
terminated at 650 C. The experimental results showed that both the commercial and the
Furan resins are another class of thermoset resins recently used prepared non-commercial interfacial additives are effective at low
as matrix for basalt reinforced composites. Differently from concentration.
phenolic resins, which are synthesized from highly toxic and haz- A comparative study on the tensile properties at various
ardous compounds as phenol and formaldehyde, furan resins are temperature conditions of clay reinforced polypropylene, nano-
composites and chopped basalt fibre reinforced poly-
propyleneeclay nanocomposites was carried out by Eslami-
Farsani et al. [72] They showed that the addition of nanoclay
improves the yield strength and Young's modulus whereas it
reduces the ultimate tensile strength of polypropylene based
composites. Furthermore, the addition of chopped basalt fibres
improves the Young's modulus of the composites.
Table 4
Mechanical properties of PP filled with basalt fibres (reproduced with permission
from [69]).
Material Tensile yield Yield strain Izod impact

strength (MPa) (%) strength (J/m)
Unfilled PP 29.5 ± 0.20 17.5 ± 0.57 6 ± 0.3

PP þ 10 wt% basalt fibres 27.1 ± 0.46 13.8 ± 0.65 25.2 ± 0.6
þ 5 wt% PP-g-MA
þ 10 wt% PP-g-MA
Fig. 10. Temperature dependence of the flexural strength Rm of the composites
þ 20 wt% PP-g-MA
partially pyrolyzed at 650 C and 750 C (reproduced with permission from [66]).
The effect of temperature, adhesion time, and surface treatment remarkably and the friction coefficient and wear rate decreased
of basalt fibres on the mechanical properties of composites based with increases in the sliding speed and load. The authors also
on a high-density polyethylene and a copolymer of 1,3,5-trioxane showed that MoS2 and graphite as fillers significantly improved the
with 1,3-dioxolan reinforced with basalt fibres was investigated wear resistance of the basalt fibres reinforced polyimide compos-
by Bashtannik et al. [73]. The experimental results showed that the ites [78].
surface modification of basalt fibres in acidic and alkaline media Deak et al. [79] studied the effect of surface treatment with
intensifies the adhesion of thermoplastics to them. In particular, it coupling agents on the dynamic mechanical properties of
was revealed that the treatment in the acidic medium is more polyamide-6 reinforced with basalt fibres showing that the inter-
efficient and considerably improves the mechanical properties of facial adhesion between basalt fibres and polyamide can be largely
composites. improved by the application of silane coupling agents in the entire
Akinci [74] showed that the basalt fibres content influences the temperature range evaluated. In another paper [80], Deak et al.
structural integrity and the quasi static mechanical properties of compared Polyamide 6 reinforced with long and short basalt fibres.
low density polyethylene based composites. In particular, the The results showed that long fibre reinforced thermoplastic com-
elongation at break of the composites decreases by increasing the posites are particularly advantageous in the respects of dynamic
basalt fibres amount. Moreover, it was revealed that the crystalli- mechanical properties and injection moulding shrinkage. In
zation increases by increasing the basalt content and the basalt particular, the fibre orientation in long basalt fibre reinforced
weight percent increases the hardness. Low-density polyethylene products fundamentally differs from short basalt fibre reinforced
based composites reinforced with basalt filler were evaluated also ones, resulting in more isotropic moulding shrinkage in case of long
in term of friction and wear performance under dry sliding con- basalt fibre reinforced composites. Moreover, the main advantage
ditions [75]. As shown in Fig. 11, the results showed that the wear of the used long fibre thermoplastic technology was that the special
rates for neat matrix and basalt filled composites increase with long fibre reinforced pellet can be processed by most conventional
increasing loads and sliding speeds. Moreover, the wear rates of the injection moulding machines.
basalt filled composites were significantly affected from the basalt The effect of nanotube content on the mechanical properties of
content. polyamide-6 reinforced with basalt fibres was investigated by
In addition to polyethylene and polypropylene, even other Meszaros et al. [81]. The experimental results showed that the
thermoplastic polymers have been evaluated as matrix for basalt combination of macroscopic and nanosized reinforcements im-
fibre composites. For instance, the tribological behaviours of two proves the mechanical properties significantly, and synergetic ef-
polytetrafluoroethylene-based composites reinforced with carbon fects can also be observed.
fibres and basalt fibres sliding against stainless steel under water In another work [82], Meszaros et al. studied the mechanical
lubrication were investigated and compared with those of pure properties of basalt fibre and montmorillonite co-reinforced poly-
matrix by Wang et al. [76]. The experimental results showed that amide 6 matrix hybrid nanocomposites. In particular, the hybrid
carbon fibres were well bonded with polytetrafluoroethylene ma- nanocomposites showed high tensile and flexural properties, and a
trix differently from the basalt fibres which were poorly bonded synergistic effect of the co-reinforcement has been demonstrated.
with the matrix. Due to the great accelerating effect of poor fibre/ Moreover, it was observed that the presence of short basalt fibres
matrix interfacial adhesion on water absorption, polytetrafluoro- can enhance the dispersion of the nanoparticles in the matrix.
ethylene reinforced with basalt fibres with the highest crystallinity The molten viscosity of polyamide-6 currently used in industry
unexpectedly showed the highest water absorption, resulting in was very high, which makes it difficult to impregnate thermoplastic
serious matrix plasticization and degradation of fibre/matrix resin into fibre bundles. To overcome this problem, anionic reactive
interfacial adhesion. As a result, as the reinforcement failure of processing was used as an alternative way to obtain polyamide-6. In
basalt fibres occurred, BF/PTFE exhibited the highest wear rate. particular, initial low viscosity raw reactants (i.e. Monomer (Ɛ-
Zhang et al. [77,78] focused their attention on the tribological caprolactam) þ Activator þ Initiator) were injected through the
properties of polyimide composites reinforced by short basalt fibres reinforcement, being it a low energy consumption process. The
also filled with solid lubricants as MoS2 and graphite. In the paper result was a high molecular weight linear polymer (anionic PA-6).
[77] it was revealed that the low incorporation of basalt fibres leads Hoto et al. [83] analyzed the use of APA-6 as matrix material of
to improve the tribological behaviour of polyimide composites basalt fibres studying the dependency between injection flow rate
Fig. 11. Variation of wear rate with basalt content depending on (a) applied load for sliding speed 1 m/s and on (b) sliding speed for applied load of 10 N (reproduced with
and void content, which affects final mechanicals properties of the evaluate the cytocompatibility of the composite and the results
composites. suggested that the presence of basalt fibres does not noticeably
The influence of basalt fibre on morphology, mechanical prop- affect osteoblastic behaviour and the designed composites are
erties, contact angle, melting and crystallization behaviours of osteoblast compatible.
polyamide 1012 was studied by Song et al. [84]. The experimental Kurniawan et al. [87] studied the effects of atmospheric pressure
results showed that the interface properties between basalt fibre glow discharge plasma polymerization on basalt fibres on the
and polyamide 1012 were improved effectively by silane coupling properties of basalt plain woven fabric/polylactic acid composites.
agent thus increasing the tensile and flexural strength of the In particular, composites with 25% of fibres weight content were
composites. Although basalt fibre does not change polyamide 1012 produced by compression moulding method and plasma exposure
crystal structure, it alters the melting temperature and degree of time of the fibres was varied from 0.5 to 6 min. This study showed
crystallinity of polyamide 1012. In addition, by virtue of the changes that plasma exposure time on basalt fibres affects mechanical
in crystallization temperature, the nucleation ability of polyamide properties of the composites, evidencing a decline in mechanical
1012 in composites is confirmed to be enhanced. Moreover, the properties until the fibres was plasma polymerized beyond 1.5 min.
strong interaction between epoxy groups of silane coupling agent In particular, optimum plasma polymerization on basalt fibres was
and amide groups of polyamide 1012 elevates the hydrophobic achieved for 4.5 min of plasma exposure time. The SEM micrograph
properties of composites. of the cross section of optimally plasma polymerized basalt fibres/
Song et al. [85] studied the effect of basalt fibre content also on PLA composite (Fig. 12) revealed gaps between matrix and plasma
morphology, melting and crystallization, structure, mechanical polymerized basalt fibres. Moreover, it was shown that the regions
properties of poly(vinylidene fluoride)/Poly(methyl methacrylate) where basalt fibres adhere with PLA matrix are likely the sites of
blends. As shown in Table 5, the tensile (st) and flexural strengths silane and plasma polymer acrylic acid stacks occurred.
(sf) increased by increasing the basalt fibres content up to 20% in The tensile, flexural and impact properties of PLA composites
weight. The melting temperature (Tm) was not influenced by the reinforced with basalt and glass fibres were compared by Liu et al.
presence of the basalt fibres, but the degree of crystallinity (Xc) of [88]. To this aim, composites with fibre weight content up to 40%
composites increased as basalt fibres content increase up to 20% in were prepared by means of a twin screw extruder. The results
weight 20%. Moreover, the heat resistance, evaluated by Vicat showed that basalt fibre/PLA composites had significant reinforcing
softening temperature (VST), is improved due to basalt fibres. and toughening effect in comparison with glass fibre/PLA com-
posites. The impact strength of basalt fibre/PLA composites ach-
ieved the maximum value with the content of basalt fibre equal to
2.3. Biodegradable polymer
20%. To further toughen the PLA composites reinforced with 20% in
weight of basalt fibres, the authors used three kinds of elastomers:
As discussed in the introduction section of this review, basalt
i.e. ethyleneepropyleneediene rubber grafted with maleic anhy-
fibres are not biodegradable but still considered as natural, because
dride (EPDM-g-MAH), polyoxyethylene grafted with maleic anhy-
they can be produced by using basalt rocks, which can be found in
dride (POE-g-MAH) and ethylene-acrylate-glycidyl methacrylate
nature and virtually in every country around the globe. For these
copolymer (EAGMA). However, it was shown that the introduction
reasons, basalt fibre reinforced biodegradable polymer composites
of POE-g-MAH and EPDM-g-MAH can not improve the toughness of
are expected to provide environmentally friendly yet economically
basalt fibre/PLA composites whereas the EAGMA restricts the mo-
justifiable structural and functional materials.
lecular mobility of PLA and leads to the formation of larger per-
Among these, polylactid acid (PLA) is one of the most promising
centage of the amorphous phase, thus further increasing the
candidates because of the possibility of producing from annually
toughness of the composites.
renewable resources and its degradability to natural samples in a
Tabi et al. [89] focused their attention on PLA composites rein-
short period in contrast with conventional plastics. Although a lot
forced with chopped silane treated and untreated basalt fibres.
of research studies reported the mechanical behaviour of various
Composites with fibre weight content up to 40% were prepared
vegetable fibres/PLA composites in detail, there are few articles
using extrusion and injection moulding methods. Quasi-static (i.e.
regarding PLA based composites reinforced with basalt fibres.
In particular, these mineral fibres were used for the first time as
reinforcement of PLA matrix by Chen et al. to fabricate composite
materials for hard tissue repair [86]. In particular, the authors
produced composites and pure PLA by the methods of solution
blending and freeze drying. The results showed that basalt fibres
can be uniformly dispersed in the PLLA matrix and significantly
improve the mechanical properties and hydrophilicity of the PLLA
matrix. Moreover, the authors stated that the presence of basalt
fibres may retard the polymer degradation rate and neutralize the
acid degradation from PLLA. Osteoblasts were cultured in vitro to
Table 5
Properties of PVDF/PMMA/Basalt fibre composites as reported by [85].
PVDF/PMMA PVDF/PMMA/ PVDF/PMMA/ PVDF/PMMA/

basalt fibre 10% basalt fibre 20% basal fibre 30%
st (MPa) 37.2 ± 1.0 50.4 ± 1.4 62.4 ± 0.7 54.7 ± 0.5

ε (%) 24.2 ± 0.40 5.8 ± 0.16 5.4 ± 0.24 3.6 ± 0.33
sf (MPa) 40.7 ± 1.9 85.2 ± 2.0 101.7 ± 2.9 93.8 ± 1.5
Xc (%) 54.9 57.4 62.1 56.6
Tm ( C) 167.4 167.1 166.9 166.8
Fig. 12. Cross section of optimally plasma polymerized BF/PLA composite (reproduced
VST ( C) 133 ± 0.24 136.9 ± 0.23 142.3 ± 0.16 146.1 ± 0.20
with permission from [87]).
tensile and three-point bending tests) and dynamic mechanical Cao et al. [95] presented a study on the tensile properties of
tests (i.e. notched and un-notched Charpy impact tests), dynamic hybrid carbon/glass and carbon/basalt reinforced polymers. Tensile
mechanical analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, heat tests were performed at different temperatures to verify the ther-
deflection temperature analysis, dimensional stability test, melt mal behaviour of the composites. Similar reductions of the tensile
flow index analysis and scanning electron microscopic observations strength of carbon/glass and carbon/basalt composites compared to
were carried out. On the basis of experimental data, it was shown the all carbon composites were found.
that silane treated chopped basalt fibres are much more effective in Ary Subagia et al. [96] investigated the effect of different
reinforcing PLA than natural fibres. stacking sequences of carbon and basalt woven fabrics on the
Tabi et al. [90] compared the properties of long fibre reinforced flexural properties of hybrid composite laminates, manufactured by
composites to chopped basalt fibre reinforced PLA composites vacuum assisted resin transfer moulding method. All the stacking
produced by using the conventional dry mixing, extrusion and in- sequences showed a positive hybridization effect and the flexural
jection moulding methods. In particular, tensile, three-point properties of hybrid composites were strongly dependent on the
bending and Charpy impact tests, dynamic mechanical analysis, sequence of fibre reinforcement. In particular, the interply hybrid
differential scanning calorimetry, heat deflection temperature composite with carbon fibre at the compressive side exhibited
analysis and scanning electron microscopic observations were higher flexural strength and modulus than when basalt fabric was
carried out. They showed that the mechanical properties of the long placed at the compressive side.
basalt fibre reinforced PLA was found to be superior to short basalt Hybrid epoxy composites with alternate stacking sequences of
fibre reinforced PLA. Moreover, fibre length analysis revealed that plain basalt and carbon fabrics were developed by Zhang et al. to
the remaining average fibre length highly increased, while electron improve the toughness properties of conventional carbon rein-
microscopy demonstrated that there is very strong adhesion be- forced composites [97]. The toughness properties of each laminate
tween the phases. Finally, it was found that the long basalt fibres were studied by an open hole compression test and the results
also have nucleating ability, however, not as efficient as short basalt showed that hybrid composites display higher open hole
fibres. compression strength than that of plain carbon fibre composites.
Wheat gluten and starch resin are other biodegradable poly- Fiore et al. [14] demonstrate the feasibility of use of basalt fibres
mers that have been considered in the last years as matrix for in substitution of glass one. To this aim, hybrid composites were
basalt-reinforced polymers. In particular, Ye et al. [91] examined manufactured by means of ply substitution techniques and tested
the biodegradation behaviour of wheat gluten/basalt composites by by three point bending and tensile tests. It was shown how the
putting specimens into soil of prescribed moisture content. The substitution of the most external lamina improves both the flexural
effect of silane coupling agents and of the adding of fire retardants and tensile properties (Table 6) in comparison with glass fibres mat
on the mechanical and the thermal properties of starch resin fabric reinforced composite. Moreover, this solution was then
reinforced with basalt plain fabrics was studied by Wittek e Tani- applied to a naval bulkhead demonstrating that, considering costs,
moto [92]. environment impact, and mechanical performances, this kind of
material could substitute the traditional GFRP in naval application.
2.4. Hybrid composites Petrucci et al. [98] compared the mechanical properties of
different hybrid composite laminates, based on basalt fibre com-
In the last decades, there has been growing attention towards posites as the inner core, and using also glass, flax and hemp fibre
hybrid composites for structural applications due to their better laminates to produce symmetrical configurations. In particular, all
properties than their individual material constituents. In hybrid the composite, having fibre volume contents in the range of
composites two or more types of fibres are simultaneously used as 21e23%, were manufactured by vacuum infusion method. Tensile,
reinforcement in a common matrix. Although hybrid laminates three-point bending and interlaminar shear strength tests were
may be produced in several different arrangements, in most cases carried out showing that the mechanical performance of all the
fibres have been intimately mixed in a lamina (i.e. intraply hybrid hybrid laminates appeared superior to pure hemp and flax fibre
laminates) or in separate laminae (i.e. interply hybrid laminates). reinforced laminates and inferior to basalt fibre laminates. Among
Due to their good properties, also basalt fibres began to be used as a the hybrids, the best properties were offered by those obtained by
brand new reinforcing material for hybrid and composite adding glass and flax to basalt fibre reinforced laminates.
laminates. The mechanical properties (i.e. tensile, flexural and impact
Czigany [93] analyzed the mechanical properties of poly- strengths) of phenol formaldehyde based composites reinforced
propylene reinforced with basalt, hemp, glass and carbon fibre and with hemp fibres, basalt fibres and hemp/basalt fibres were
their basalt hybrid composites. In order to achieve a sufficient investigated as a function of fibre loading by Ozturk [99]. The
interfacial adhesion, the fibres were treated with the reaction experimental result showed that the tensile strength of basalt
mixture of maleic acid anhydride and sunflower oil. The experi- reinforced composites increases by incorporation of basalt fibre up
mental result showed that the mechanical characteristics improve
in each case compared to the pure polypropylene matrix. In
particular, it was revealed that basalt fibre hybridization resulted in
Table 6
only a slight increase in the mechanical properties in case of hemp
Tensile properties of laminates analyzed (reproduced with permission from [14]).
fibre composites, while in case of carbon fibre and primarily glass
fibre composites, a significant improvement was experienced. N. of basalt Position of Tensile modulus Tensile strength
layers basalt (GPa) (MPa)
Chikhradze et al. [94] proposed the use of hybrid epoxy com-
posites reinforced by carbon, basalt and E-glass fibres for the 0 e 8.28 ± 0.34 145.4 ± 11.7
1 Lamina 1 9.82 ± 0.28 170.5 ± 7.39
manufacturing of wind turbines. A study on the influence of the
1 Lamina 2 9.6 ± 0.75 167.6 ± 8.5
substitution of carbon fibres by basalt ones was performed showing 1 Lamina 3 10.2 ± 0.67 168.6 ± 11.6
that at 20% and 40% substitution of carbon fibre for basalt gives 1 Lamina 4 10.7 ± 0.96 165.7 ± 9.5
approximately the same deterioration of the strength- and elas- 1 Lamina 5 10.1 ± 0.55 169.6 ± 7.8
ticity characteristics so that it is acceptable as solution in view of 1 Lamina 6 10.4 ± 0.46 170.4 ± 12.4
2 Lamina 1e6 14.1 ± 0.81 210.3 ± 20.7
economical optimization.
to 32% in volume and increases beyond this value whereas the In the paper [107] five different types of woven fabrics (Fig. 13)
flexural strength decreased linearly with fibre loading. However, with different volume percentages of nylon (0%, 25%, 33.3%, 50%
the maximum impact strength was obtained for 48% basalt fibre and 100%) were used as reinforcement of epoxy resin. The effect of
content. Moreover, the addition of basalt fibres decreased the nylon/basalt fibre content on maximum force, maximum deflec-
tensile strength of the hemp composites and the mechanical tion, residual deflection, total absorbed energy, elastic energy, size
properties of hemp composites are higher than that of basalt and type of damage were studied at several low velocity impact
composites for the same fibre loading. nominal energy levels (i.e. 16, 30 and 40 J). The experimental results
Wu et al. [100] compared the fatigue behaviour of composites showed that the impact performance of these intraply hybrid
subjected to a hybridization process using different materials. In laminates is significantly affected by the nylon/basalt fibre content.
particular, six different types of epoxy polymers reinforced with In a more recent paper [108], the authors performed low-
unidirectional fibres were used for this study: i.e. four traditional velocity impact and compression after impact tests at different
(reinforced with carbon, polyparaphenylenl benzobisoxazole, glass, nominal impact energy levels (16, 30 and 40 J) on hybrid composite
and basalt fibres) and two hybrid ones (carbon/glass and carbon/ laminates reinforced by basalt-nylon intraply fabrics. Five different
basalt). types of fabric were produced with a rapier loom: i.e. a homoge-
The experimental results showed that the carbon/basalt hybrid neous basalt fabric, a homogeneous nylon fabric and three hybrid
composites significantly improve the fatigue resistance in com- basalt/nylon fabrics with different volume percentages of nylon (i.e.
parison to the homogeneous basalt composite, whereas the resis- 25%, 33.3% and 50%). For hybrid fabrics, the percentage of nylon or
tance of the carbon/glass hybrid composites does not provide such basalt was equal in the warp and weft directions. The results
effects. showed that at low impact energy, hybridization and variation in
The flexural and impact properties of carbon/basalt fibres hybrid basalt/nylon fibre content can not improve the impact performance
laminates were compared with those of carbon/E-glass ones by of composite plates. Vice versa, the impact performance becomes
Dorigato and Pegoretti [101]. It was shown that the flexural more and more dependent on the content of nylon and basalt with
modulus of the composites depends on their composition accord- increasing impact energy.
ing to a rule of mixture, while an important synergistic effect is Eslami-Farsani et al. [109] investigated the effects of thermal
detected for the ultimate flexural properties. Moreover, the Charpy cycles on impact resistance of carbon/basalt hybrid phenolic com-
impact tests evidence a strength increase with increasing of basalt posites, compared to those of all basalt and all carbon composites.
and glass fibres content. In particular, the hybridization with basalt In particular, all the investigated composites were manufactured by
fibres promotes an increase of the adsorbed impact energy due to hand lay-up method, using plain woven carbon fabrics (areal
an enhancement of the fracture propagation component. density equal to 198 g/m2) and twill woven basalt fabrics (630 g/
Wang et al. [102] studied the effect of fibre arrangement in 3D m2) as reinforcement. The experimental results showed that the
woven hybrid basalt/Kevlar 129 composites on their low velocity mean Charpy impact energy of the basalt/phenolic composites is
impact properties. To this aim, aramid and basalt fibres were used higher than that of the hybrid composites and all carbon compos-
to fabricate two epoxy structures: i.e. the first one, namely interply ites, at all thermal cycles. Moreover, the Charpy impact energy of
hybrid composite, in which different yarn types were placed in carbon/phenolic composites and hybrid composites was not
different layers and the second one, namely intraply hybrid com- significantly affected by thermal cycles. On the contrary, the impact
posite, in which each layer was composed of two types of alter- resistance of basalt/phenolic composites showed a sharp decline
nately arranged yarns. It was shown that the interply hybrid with increasing thermal cycling, and reaches a plateau after a
composite has higher ductile indices, lower peak load, and higher certain cycles.
specific energy absorption in both warp and weft directions than Fiore et al. [110] analyzed the possibility to join aluminium alloy
that of the intraply hybrid composite due to a layer-by-layer frac- 6086 and epoxy composites reinforced with basalt fibres by means
ture mode for the interply hybrid composite. of three joining techniques: i.e. mechanical by self piercing riveting,
The superiority of basalt fibres in hybrid composite over glass adhesive by co-curing technique and mixed in which the traditional
fibres for post impact behaviour is also demonstrated by De Rosa joining techniques were combined. Two manufacturing technolo-
et al. [103]. In a similar way, Sarasini et al. studied the behaviour of gies (i.e. hand lay-up and vacuum bagging) were used both to
glass-basalt [104] carbon-basalt [105] and aramid-basalt [106] produce composite substrates and to realize co-curing adhesion
hybrid composites, manufactured by resin transfer moulding between the substrates to be joined. The experimental results have
technique, under low impact velocity. In particular, specimens shown that adhesive joints, realized by vacuum bagging method,
prepared with different stacking sequences were tested at three show higher average failure load and lower standard deviation than
different impact energies (i.e. 5 J, 12.5 J and 25 J) and their residual those realized by hand lay-up. By comparing mixed joints, different
post-impact mechanical properties were characterized by quasi- results are obtained: i.e. the hand lay-up joints show both higher
static four point bending tests. The experimental results showed average failure load and standard deviation than those realized by
that hybrid laminates with an intercalated configuration (i.e. vacuum bagging (see Figs. 14 and 15).
alternating sequence of basalt and glass, carbon or aramid fabrics) In the last years, basalt fibres have been also used in hybrid
exhibit higher impact energy absorption capacity and enhanced sandwich structures. In particular, Lopresto et al. [111] carried out
damage tolerance capability than the traditional laminates. physics and mechanical tests on innovative sandwiches having as
Conversely, the most favourable flexural behaviour was shown by core a polyurethane matrix filled with short basalt fibres. The
hybrid laminates with symmetrical sandwich-like configuration experimental results showed that better behaviours are found in
(with glass or carbon fabrics at the centre of the laminate as core in terms of compression strength and elastic modulus, compression
glass or carbon-basalt structures, basalt fabrics as core in basalt/ energy absorption capability, impact force and energy in compar-
aramid structures, respectively). ison with sandwiches made without any reinforcement in the
With the aim of combine the good mechanical properties of polyurethane core. From physics tests, a good behaviour as insu-
basalt fibre with the excellent impact resistant of nylon fibre, the lator of the innovative sandwiches is noted together with an in-
low velocity impact behaviour of homogenous and hybrid com- crease in performances at the increasing of the reinforcement.
posite laminates reinforced by basaltenylon intra-ply fabrics was Torres et al. [112] studied the mechanical behaviour of com-
experimentally investigated by Dehkordi et al. [107,108]. posite sandwich structures having basalt fibre reinforced bio-epoxy
Fig. 13. The structure of fabrics with different content of nylon: (a) 0%, (b) 25%, (c) 33%, (d) 50%, (e) 100% (reproduced with permission from [107]).
resin as skins and cork as core material. In particular, mechanical unidirectional fabric with the same areal weight equal to 200 g/m2.
properties of both skin and core materials were assessed through A bio-based epoxy resin was also used as matrix for each skin.
flexural and tensile tests. Moreover, finite element simulations for Moreover, for some specimens the core material was altered
the mechanical stress analysis of the sandwich material were car- allowing resin infiltration between the granules. The experimental
ried out and a maximum allowable shear stress for material failure results showed that the presence of different fibre skins greatly
under bending loads was established. The proposed green- influences the failure mechanism and significant enhancement of
composite sandwich material was used for the fabrication of a the energy-absorbing capability are found when specimens are
longboard as a case study for a sports equipment application. loaded in the proper conditions. As shown in Fig. 16, it was found
Hoto et al. [113] studied the flexural behaviour and the water that the water absorption of the specimens is significantly reduced
absorption of asymmetrical sandwich composites manufactured by by the infiltration of resin between the granules of the core.
means of vacuum assisted hand lay-up process. In particular, the Khalili et al. [114] studied a new type of hybrid material
authors used a commercially available cork board as core and basalt composed by steel, aluminium and basalt fibre epoxy composites
fibre unidirectional fabric, with areal weight equal to 400 g/m2, as (BFRE) filled with micro glass powder (MGP) under tensile and
reinforcement for one of the skins. The other skin was made of flax bending load. It was shown how adding MGP to the BFRE, it is
Fig. 14. Typical Loadedisplacement curves for hand ay-up joints (reproduced with Fig. 15. Typical Loadedisplacement curves for vacuum bagging joints (reproduced
permission from [110]). with permission from [110]).
possible to increase the mechanical performances of the hybrid

material in term of both tensile and flexural properties and energy
absorption.
3. Metallic matrices
As discussed in the previous section of this review, basalt fibres

have been widely used as reinforcement both of thermoset and of
thermoplastic polymers in the last decades.
Due to their ceramic nature and to their less price than other
ceramic fibres, basalt fibres represent a good candidate as rein-
forcing components also in metallic matrices. Nevertheless, the
applicability of basalt fibre as a reinforcing material for metal-
ematrix composites (MMCs) has been marginally investigated.
Casting and powder metallurgy methods are the main techniques
for the manufacturing of metal matrix composites under different
pressure and thermal conditions. For this reason, the prospect of
using basalt fibre as reinforcement of metal matrices significantly
depends on the stability of fibres to the effect of processing
conditions.
A first approach to the manufacture of metal matrix composites Fig. 17. Variation of residual strength with holding time in the furnace at different
with basalt fibres as reinforcement was given by Akhlaghi et al. temperatures (reproduced with permission from [115]).
[115]. In particular, a study on the dependence of the strength from
the temperature and exposure time was performed. As shown in
Fig. 17, a severe loss of the strength was observed for long holding Sabet et al. [116] studied the feasibility of basalt/metal matrix
time and high temperature: i.e. the exposure time have not exceed composite through the study of the thermal behaviour of the fibres.
15 min. Despite this, the high stability of basalt was confirmed by In order to find the best range of the controlling parameter, the
the micro-morphological analysis that indicated that the fibres effect of high temperature and exposure time on the strength was
maintained their own shape. Furthermore, a high dependence of studied. As in the previous paper [115], it was shown how an
the porosity and void contents was observed. The different be- important drop of the strength happens for an exposure time over
haviours at high temperature between ceramic fibres and metallic 15 min. Moreover, the strength decreases as the processing tem-
matrix in terms of plastic deformation and flowing, even if a good perature increases. In order to find the best process parameters for
grade of adhesion is demonstrate by micrograph analysis, leads to a the production of the laminates, a study of the densification in
higher percentage of defect as higher is the fibres volume fraction. dependence of the pressure was performed. It was concluded that
Fig. 16. (a) Loadedisplacement curves of sandwich specimens with modified core (MO), (b) loadedisplacement curves of sandwich specimens with original core (OC), (c) water
absorption curves for different sandwich specimens and (d) water absorption curves for different core specimens (reproduced with permission from [113]).
the optimum is reach for a pressure value of 630 MPa, temperature Moreover, basalt fibres have been lately considered instead of
value of 300 C and an exposure time of 15 min. carbon fibres as technical textiles acting as reinforcement in
Vannan and Vizhian [117] show as squeeze infiltration could be cement-based mortars (i.e. textile-reinforced mortars) [125,126].
a good solution to manufacture short basalt fibres-Al alloy matrix In particular, an empirical nonlinear approach, based on the
composites. In particular, the experimental observations showed crack control expression included in the Eurocode 2, was proposed
that a homogeneous dispersion can be obtained and an analytical to predict the stress-strain behaviour under uniaxial tension of
model can provide a tool to predict the elastic properties of this basalt textile-reinforced mortars in Ref. [125]. In addition, a well-
kind of material. Furthermore, it was shown how, increasing the known model as AvestoneCoopereKelly theory, which is based
volume fibres fraction, the ductility decrease. on a tri-linear analytical approach, was also discussed and its
Karthigeyan et al. [118] performed a deposition of copper simulations compared with the experimental results. In paper
coating on short basalt fibres to improve the interface between the [126], the experimental results were analyzed and contrasted with
metal matrix and reinforcement. The electroless process used to a non-linear numerical simulation with a 3D finite element code in
deposit the copper coating onto the basalt fibre relies on a sequence addition to the AvestoneCoopereKelly model. Both the Aves-
of sensitization time, activation time and metallization time. Aim of toneCoopereKelly model and the finite element analysis estimate
this work was to optimize the above parameters to know the with good accuracy the tensile behaviour of the textile-reinforced
amount of coating thickness. The authors stated that it is possible to mortars.
obtain a uniform and continuous coating of copper. In particular, Borhan [127] studied mechanical and thermal properties of
the maximum thickness is obtained at 15 min of sensitization time, concretes manufactured using recycled waste mixed colour glass as
15 min of activation time, 3 min of metallization time, 45 C bath a partial replacement (i.e. 20%, 40%, and 60% by weight) for the
temperature and pH 13. natural fine aggregate and chopped basalt fibres (i.e. 0%, 0.1%, 0.3%,
and 0.5% by total volume of the mix) as reinforcement. As shown in
Fig. 18, basalt fibres lead to an enhancement in concrete compres-
4. Concrete matrices sive strength for all the mixes investigated. As regard the thermal
properties, a significant reduction in heat transfer for all tempera-
Thanks to their excellent properties, basalt fibres have been ture levels was found using high percentages of waste glass and
used also as reinforcement for concrete materials. In particular, Li basalt fibres.
and Su [119,120] showed that the addition of basalt fibre can Besides its use as reinforcement of concrete based matrices,
significantly improve deformation and energy absorption capac- basalt fibres were also used in polymer based composites as a
ities of geopolymeric concrete while there is no notable improve- strengthening material for structural concrete members.
ment in dynamic compressive strength. Jiang et al. [121] showed Through various experimental tests for durability, mechanical
that adding basalt fibres reduces markedly dry shrinkage of cement properties, and flexural strengthening, Sim et al. [7] demonstrated
mortar, especially at early ages. Moreover, the basalt fibres rein- that, when moderate structural strengthening but high resistance
forced mortars have greater compressive and flexural strengths at for fire is simultaneously sought, e.g. for building structures, basalt
early hydration period but have little less strength at the age of 28- fibres can be a good alternative to glass or carbon fibres in rein-
days than mortar without fibres. forced polymer (FRP) strengthening systems.
Dias and Thaumaturgo [122] investigated the influence of the Chen et al. [128] compared the strengthening capacity and the
volume fraction of basalt fibre on the fracture toughness of geo- failure mode of concrete slabs strengthened with epoxy based
polymeric cement concretes. To this aim, three point bending and composites reinforced by carbon, glass and basalt fibres,
compressive tests were carried out on concrete samples reinforced respectively.
by different fractions of short basalt fibres (i.e. 0%, 0.5% and 1%). For strengthening design, the authors have chosen a cross-
According to the experimental results, geopolymeric concretes shape scheme, based on engineering practice, to simulate the
showed better fracture properties and were so less sensitive to the steel reinforcement in the slab. The experimental results showed
presence of cracks than conventional Portland cement. In partic- that there is almost no strengthening effect for a reinforced con-
ular, the basalt fibres were found to be more efficient in strength- crete slab when the cross-shape strengthening scheme was used,
ening geopolymeric concretes than Portland cements. On the other except in the case of using carbon fibre reinforced polymer as a
hand, they were found to be more efficient in toughening geo- strengthening material. Moreover, there was found a slight
polymeric concretes than Portland cements only for the highest improvement when using two layers of basalt fibre reinforced
fibre concentrations (i.e. Vf ¼ 1%). polymer.
The effect of basalt fibre on physical and mechanical properties Campione et al. [129] compared the behaviour in compression
of concretes was also evaluated by Kabay [123]. To this aim, ten of concrete cylinders externally wrapped with basalt and carbon
mixtures were prepared by incorporating different amounts and fibres. In particular, the main variables investigated were the
sizes of basalt fibres. The mechanical characterization showed that number and type of plies (i.e. full or partial wrapping), the type of
improvements of flexural strength, fracture energy and abrasion loading (i.e. monotonic and cyclic actions) and the type of fibre (i.e.
resistance can be obtained by using basalt fibre even at low con- basalt and carbon). The experimental results showed the possibility
tents. Vice versa, inclusion of basal fibre in concrete resulted in a of reducing the brittleness of unconfined concrete, resulting
decrease of the compressive strength. significantly increased both the post-peak resistance and the axial
Similarly, the effects of the volume fraction and length of basalt strain of confined concrete corresponding to BFRP failure.
fibres on the mechanical properties of concretes were analyzed also Another application of basalt fibres as reinforcement of concrete
by Jiang et al. [124]. To this aim, three types of fibre were used (i.e. structures regards also bars made of thermoset polymer used in the
Polypropylene fibre and basalt fibres with length equal to 12 mm concrete structures instead of traditional steel reinforcement [130].
and 22 mm, respectively). This work showed that the basalt fibres In particular, Zhu et al. [131] investigated the fire resistance of
significantly improve tensile strength, flexural strength and reinforced concrete beams strengthened with near-surface-
toughness index of the composites, whereas the compressive mounted bars, which were composed of basalt fibre and three
strength shows no obvious increase. Furthermore, it was found that different resin matrices: i.e. a heat-resistant vinyl ester resin, a
the fibre length also influences the mechanical properties. common vinyl ester resin and a heat-resistant epoxy resin.
Fig. 18. Compressive strength of concrete with different glass and basalt fibre contents: (a) 0% glass content (b) 20% glass content (c) 40% glass content and (d) 60% glass content
(reproduced with permission from [127]).
Pearson et al. [132] compared the long-term behaviours of pre- them only to binder course in order to avoid the negative effects
stressed basalt fibre reinforced polymer bars and steel ones. To this due to basalt fibres that can be damage for vehicle tires. Although
aim, three basalt reinforced polymer samples, two steel high yield- additional costs may be required to add basalt fibres to the asphalt
reinforcing bars, and one high tensile steel cable sample were mixtures, when its overall long-term contributions are taken into
tested carrying out creep tests at room temperature and setting account, it is still considered that basalt fibre asphalt concrete can
tension equal to 16 kN. The experimental results showed that pre- be utilized in the binder course.
stress loses are seen to be equal or less with basalt reinforced bars Gao et al. [137e139] studied the water stability and the per-
and steel in comparison to steel cable. formances at low and high temperatures of asphalt concretes
Banibayat and Patnaik [133] have produced basalt reinforced reinforced with basalt fibres, showing the beneficial effect of basalt
bars, for potential use as internal reinforcement of concrete, by fibre on the evaluated performances.
means of a new type of automated wet lay-up process. In particular,
this process derives from a conventional wet lay-up method but it
is automated from bobbins to bars in a single stage. The bars are 5. Industrial applications
wrapped during the process with a helix to give the desired un-
evenness and to achieve superior bond strength with concrete. This Thanks to their optimal properties, basalt fibres could be
study revealed that the basalt reinforced bars manufactured by widely applied to many fields, such as corrosion resistance stuff in
using the new automated wet-layup process shows variation in the chemical industry [140], wear and friction stuff in the auto-
mechanical properties similar to that of fibre reinforced bars mobile industry [141], target area of anti-low velocity impact
manufactured by other methods. However, it was shown that this [102], reinforcing material in construction [6], high temperature-
process has economic benefit compared to the traditional pul- insulation of automobile catalysts [142], fire protection [143] and
trusion method due to its simplicity and cost effectiveness resulting resistance [144].
from less stringent production controls. In the automotive, basalt fibres are widely used for production
Due to their strong tensile properties and corrosion resistance, of car headliners. The main competitive advantage of basalt in this
basalt fibre reinforced polymer bars are also deemed as a substitute application is its outstanding recyclability, which is currently one
material of steel bar to enhance the durability of reinforced con- of the key factors for automobile producers. In particular, a lami-
crete bridges [134]. nate for headliner is constituted by a core having an adhesive layer
Recently, some researches were focused on the feasibility of the provided adjacent opposing sides thereof. Basalt fibre structural
use of basalt fibre also in hot mix asphalt concrete [5,135,136]. In reinforcement layers are provided adjacent each adhesive layer. A
particular, in the paper by Morova [5], it was observed that the use scrim layer is provided next to one reinforcement layer while a
of basalt fibre additions in hot-mix asphalt concrete had a positive film barrier and covering are provided adjacent the other rein-
impact for stability. Nevertheless, it may be considered by adding forcement layer.
Moreover, basalt fibres are increasingly used in automotive application is S2 glass but producers are interested to find more
brake disc pads and clutch facing applications. The technical ad- cost effective fibre. With the price of US$ 5 per 1 kg, basalt fibre is
vantages for their use in these applications than other typical ma- extremely prominent option compared to US$ 15 per 1 kg of S2
terials are: 2e3 times longer service life of the break assembly; glass. Finally, basalt fibre composites are also used to made pipes
durable frictional contact with metal without its wear down; and compressed natural gas cylinders [145] manufactured by
higher and more stable friction factor; increased shock resistance, means of filament winding technique. In this last case, the basalt
extended working temperature range, resistance to chemically fibre is found to process just like glass fibre and no fabrication
aggressive conditions, low water absorbency, eco friendliness. problems are encountered in the winding of the cylinders. More-
In building, basalt can be used for several applications. It can be over, the basalt fibre also exhibits excellent wet-out during fabri-
used in order to produce pultruded profiles or rebar for concrete cation. This gives filament winders the opportunity to reduce their
reinforcement. In this last case, the basalt is an alternative to steel expenses and get quality products at effective cost. For this reason,
and fibreglass. The main advantages of basalt rebar are: in the last decade some European companies have also produced
composite cylinders with basalt fibre as reinforcement. After cyclic
- it is tougher and lighter than steel; testing, such structures, which are designed for 200 bars of working
- it is naturally resistant to alkali, rust and acids; pressure, exhibited high fatigue stress (17,000 cycles of loading and
- moisture penetration from concrete does not spall; unloading at 260 bar pressure) with the burst pressure of 625 bar
- it needs no special coating like fibreglass rods; after that.
- it has the same thermal expansion coefficient as concrete;
- it reduces the thickness and spacing between the rods and the
6. Conclusions
concrete and surface;
- it is easily cut to length with regular tools;
Basalt fibres can be considered environmentally friendly and
- it does not conduct electricity;
non-hazardous materials. It is not a new material, but its applica-
- it is optimal for marine environments and chemical plants ap-
tions are surely innovative in many industrial and economic fields,
plications where corrosion is a continuous concern.
from building and construction to energy efficiency, from auto-
motive to aeronautic, thanks to its good mechanical, chemical and
Basalt fabrics into an adequate thermosetting resin can be used,
thermal performances. Hence, basalt fibre has gained increasing
in substitution of carbon, to improve earthquake-resistant prop-
attention as a reinforcing material especially compared to tradi-
erties in existing buildings.
tional glass fibres.
Fibre reinforced concrete is a cement-based composite material
The production process, even if it is very similar to the glass fi-
that has been developed in recent years. It is used in construction
bres one, does not require additives and a lower amount of energy
for its excellent flexural-tensile strength, resistance to splitting,
is needed with benefits in terms of environmental impact, eco-
impact resistance and excellent permeability, and frost resistance.
nomics and plants' maintenance.
It is an effective way to increase toughness, shock resistance and
The base cost of basalt fibres depend on the quality and the
resistance to plastic shrinkage cracking of the mortar. Basalt fibre
chemical composition of the raw material and this leads to have
for cement and concrete is not expensive, it is a competitive
several kind of fibres with different thermal, chemical and me-
alternative product of polypropylene and polyacrylonitrile fibres. It
chanical properties.
is easy to disperse when mixed with cement concrete and mortar.
Basalt fibres within polymer (i.e. thermoplastic, thermoset and
Fresh basalt fibre reinforced concrete has good characteristics, such
biodegradable), metallic and concrete matrices exhibit promising
as volume stability, good workability, good stability, excellent
properties. Due to this, these fibres have the potential to be the next
thermal resistance, anti-seepage, crack resistance and impact
generation materials for structural application for infrastructure,
resistance.
automotive industry and consumer applications.
The internal permanent and semi-permanent partitioning of
building interiors into rooms, hallways, elevator shafts, require
panels that are easy to handle and to work and that have a high Acknowledgements
resistance to fire value: 60e120 s and more. The basalt fibres are a
good alternative for this application. The authors are grateful to all the publishers (e.g. Elsevier
In road engineering, basalt fibre chopped strand plays rein- Publishers, SAGE, Springer, John Wiley and Sons) and authors who
forcing role in asphalt concrete. It can effectively improve some permitted to use figures and tables from their publications.
performances of pavement in tensile strength, toughness and
rutting deformation resistance. References
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Composites Part B 74 (2015) 74e94

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

A review on basalt ﬁbre and its composites

Table 1 particles, including ﬁbres, occurs during handling. For simulation of

Density (g/cm3) 2.56 2.8

2.1. Thermoset polymer

In these last years, basalt ﬁbres were used as reinforcement of

in this work. The experimental results showed that the basalt

advantages in allowing a better predictability of impact damage

Material Tensile yield Yield strain Izod impact

Unﬁlled PP 29.5 ± 0.20 17.5 ± 0.57 6 ± 0.3

PVDF/PMMA PVDF/PMMA/ PVDF/PMMA/ PVDF/PMMA/

st (MPa) 37.2 ± 1.0 50.4 ± 1.4 62.4 ± 0.7 54.7 ± 0.5

possible to increase the mechanical performances of the hybrid

As discussed in the previous section of this review, basalt ﬁbres

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