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Thermal Expansion - Steel Vs Fibreglass

Thermal Expansion - Steel Vs Fibreglass

Thermal Expansion - Steel Vs Fibreglass

(OP)
Can somebody please give me some general figures on the difference in thermal expansion coefficients between steel and fibreglass.  I would have thought steel had a higher coefficient but I have been told otherwise and can’t find any solid data myself.  Thanks in advance.

RE: Thermal Expansion - Steel Vs Fibreglass

Go to Matweb at:

http://www.matweb.com

For a general thermoset polyester Sheet Molding Composite (fiberglass material used for automobile panels) they list a CTE of 24 - 40 µm/m-°C.  For a typical carbon steel, it is 12.2 µm/m-°C.

The reason for this is "fiberglass" has discontinuous reinforcement and incomplete reinforcement wetting.  This means the thermal expansion is influenced heavily by the matrix properties, which are low for polymers.

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