Although alkali resistant glass fibers have been commercially available for more than 30 years, there has not been an official standard that clearly defines what is required to make glass fibers resistant to alkali attack without the need for protective coatings. ASTM International Committee C27 on Precast Concrete Products has recently developed such a standard, C 1666/C 1666M, Specification for Alkali Resistant (AR) Glass Fiber for GFRC and Fiber-Reinforced Concrete and Cement. C 1666/C 1666M is under the jurisdiction of Subcommittee C27.40 on Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete Made by the Spray-Up Process.
 
John Jones, a C27 member and division manager, Nippon Electric Glass America, Inc., says that the new standard is important because AR glass fibers are used in glass fiber reinforced concrete (usually referred to as GFRC), fiber reinforced concrete and other cementitious products where alkali attack is of concern. The specification covers minimum requirements for AR glass fibers intended for use in glass fiber-reinforced concrete by spray-up, GFRC premix, fiber-reinforced concrete and other cementitious based products.
 
All parties interested in AR glass fibers are invited to join in the standards developing activities of Subcommittee C27.40.
 
ASTM International standards are available for purchase from Customer Service (phone: 610/832-9585; https://www.astm.org/contact/) or at www.astm.org. For further technical information, contact John Jones, Nippon Electric Glass America, Inc., Grand Prairie, Texas (phone: 972/602-1740; JJones@negamerican.com). Committee C27 will meet Dec. 4-5 at December Committee Week in Tampa, Fla. For membership or meeting information, contact Joseph Hugo, Technical Committee Operations, ASTM International (phone: 610/832-9740; jhugo@astm.org).

Release #7728