What are the innovative aspects of the production process for chopped fiberglass?

As a core reinforcing material in modified plastics and composite materials, the performance of chopped fiberglass largely depends on its manufacturing process. In recent years, the industry has continuously iterated across multiple dimensions, including energy conservation and carbon reduction, interface treatment, cutting equipment, intelligent manufacturing, and functional customization. Numerous process innovations have propelled domestically produced chopped fiberglass towards the high-end market.

In the glass melting process, oxy-fuel combustion furnaces are gradually replacing traditional air-fired furnaces, significantly improving thermal efficiency and effectively reducing energy consumption and nitrogen oxide emissions. The large-scale implementation of direct untwisted roving technology eliminates the need for twisting and plying, reducing waste fiber generation, improving production efficiency, and enhancing the overall integrity of the fiber bundle. Combined with high-precision microporous platinum-rhodium spinneret technology, the breakage rate during drawing is significantly reduced, supporting stable mass production of high-modulus fiberglasss such as E6 and E9, meeting the demands of high-end applications such as new energy and wind power.

At the drawing and forming end, segmented controllable cooling and servo tension closed-loop systems are applied, effectively reducing residual stress within the fiber, minimizing single-filament damage, and improving fiber strength retention. The process window is constantly expanding, and high-speed filament drawing technology has matured, enabling the stable production of ultra-fine chopped filaments to meet the requirements of thin-wall injection molding and precision electronic component manufacturing.

Sizing agents are a core technological barrier for chopped fiberglass. Currently, the industry is gradually adopting solvent-free water-based sizing agent systems to reduce VOC emissions and drying energy consumption. Nano-modified sizing agent technology improves the micro-damage caused by fiber cutting and enhances the resin-fiber interface bonding strength. Customized formulations are being developed for different matrices such as PP, PA, PBT, and SMC, resulting in specialty products with electrolyte resistance, low dielectric properties, and flame retardancy; plasma online surface activation is also a cutting-edge research direction.

Regarding cutting equipment, new chopped glass machines optimize the filament feeding structure, resulting in lower wear on blades and rollers. Combining laser length measurement and servo closed-loop control significantly improves fiber length uniformity, reducing defects such as long/short filaments, filament bundling, and clump formation, alleviating problems such as warping and delamination in downstream products. The low-damage cutting process, through optimization of speed and pressure parameters, maximizes the preservation of the original mechanical properties of the fiber.

Smart manufacturing is reshaping fiberglass production. DCS/MES end-to-end control systems automate parameter adjustments across all processes, including melting, drawing, coating, slitting, and drying. AI machine vision enables real-time online defect detection, replacing traditional manual sampling. Digital twin technology is used for process simulation and deviation prediction, further improving batch stability and yield.

In addition, gradient mild drying processes ensure the quality of sizing agent film formation; in-situ functional modifications such as flame retardancy and antistatic properties are achieved at the production end; and the degumming and regeneration slitting process for waste fiberglass provides a feasible path for the industry's green and circular development.