ABSTRACT
Parings from the production of glass wool mats can be incorporated into beta-hemihydrate gypsum to yield a new material with different mechanical properties. This paper reports the influence of casting pressure on composite flexural strength.
Increasing fibre contents, viz 3 % by wt, 6 % by wt and 7 % by wt, were added to plaster of Paris by the premixing method. Some test specimens were compacted on a vibrating table (50X50 cm) at 2850 rpm, and some were compacted on a hydraulic machine (Mohr & Fedderhaff 1960 kN) at 0.1 MN/m2, 0.2 MN/m2 and 0.3 MN/m2. The fibre composite was dried at (40+4) °C and conditioned at (45±2) % RH at a temperature of (20±3) °C.
The main conclusion was that better performance in terms of strength is achieved with a more efficient compaction technique.
