Hello everyone, I am the factory director Xiao Wang from TopStar Concrete Synthetic Fibers. As a technical producer, I would like to share some knowledge about polypropylene macro fibers from a production perspective, which you might not have heard before. Additionally, I will analyze how to differentiate and choose polypropylene macro fibers. First, let’s understand a few terms
Why is it called macro fiber?
In China, according to national standards, fibers with a diameter greater than 0.1 millimeters can be called macro fibers.
What is synthetic fiber?
Simply put, synthetic fibers are fibers that are artificially made. Therefore, there are two types of synthetic fibers: synthetic macro fibers and synthetic micro fibers. Micro fibers are also known as polypropylene monofilament fibers, and I will explain them in detail in a separate blog post later. For now, let’s focus on the key points related to polypropylene macro fibers. So, polypropylene macro fibers are a type of synthetic fiber.
Polypropylene Synthetic Macro Fibers
Now, everyone should have a clear understanding of this term. In simple terms, it refers to coarse fibers with a diameter greater than 0.1 millimeters that are artificially produced using polypropylene materials.
Polypropylene (PP) macro fibers
With the explanations of the three terms above, when you communicate with the factory in the future, you will have a clear idea: first, specify that you need polypropylene fibers, then whether you need polypropylene macro fibers or polypropylene micro fibers, and finally, explain the performance standards of the fibers to the factory. This way, the communication will be perfect. Of course, if you don’t know any of this and only know the application scenarios, such as what fibers to use for industrial floorings or tunnel segments, you will need to have a little knowledge of fiber differentiation. Let’s start with our topic today: how to choose polypropylene macro fibers.
How to Differentiate
Here, I would like to explain what we are distinguishing. Although the previous text has clearly stated that synthetic fibers include macro fibers and micro fibers, why is there still a distinction here? The distinction we are talking about here is between two types of performance products within polypropylene macro fibers: regular polypropylene macro fibers and high-strength polypropylene macro fibers. Although both are made of polypropylene, they become two completely different products due to different processes. Their performance differs greatly, as does their price. Because I am a manufacturer, I will share some details about the process that you may have never noticed before. Let’s take a look at the two photos below.
The transparent coarse fiber is the regular polypropylene macro fiber, while the white coarse fiber is the high-strength polypropylene macro fiber.
The reason is as follows: From our professional production perspective, when polypropylene is stretched to a sufficient extent, the internal molecules change their arrangement order, forming a highly oriented non-crystalline network. The stress areas will block light, making the fiber appear white to our eyes. Within a certain range, the greater the tensile ratio it can withstand, the greater the tensile strength of the fiber, and the higher its fracture strength and the lower its fracture elongation. Therefore, the white polypropylene macro fiber can withstand a greater tensile ratio, indicating stronger performance.
In the international concrete fiber standard, polypropylene macro fibers can be divided into crack-resistant fibers and toughening fibers. The fracture strength of crack-resistant fibers is between 270 MPa and 400 MPa, and the elastic modulus is 5000 MPa, which belongs to regular polypropylene macro fibers, like the transparent coarse fiber in the image. The fracture strength of toughening fibers is often customized according to different engineering needs. For example, the dedicated fibers for industrial floorings have a fracture strength between 500 MPa and 600 MPa. For some precast concrete components such as tunnel segments, ballastless tracks, floating slabs, and shotcrete, higher requirements are needed, starting from 560 MPa, with an elastic modulus of over 10 GPa.
After all this explanation, do you understand? You can leave a message, and I will answer you from a professional production perspective.
How to Choose
After all this explanation, you must have a basis for judgment. If there are no specific performance requirements for polypropylene macro fibers in the project, and only the addition of macro fibers is required, we will choose regular polypropylene macro fibers based on cost and profit considerations. Similarly, if the project only requires crack resistance without any other specifications, we will also choose regular polypropylene macro fibers. However, if you are a flooring contractor or a precast concrete manufacturer, it’s best to choose high-strength polypropylene macro fibers for your product’s quality and reputation. Choosing TopStar Concrete Synthetic Fibers’ high-strength fibers would be even more perfect, as we specialize in high-strength polypropylene macro fibers and have a wealth of production and construction data and experience to meet your requirements.
Finally, I want to remind everyone that whether it’s regular or high-strength polypropylene macro fibers, they are both made from polypropylene raw materials. The white color of high-strength polypropylene macro fibers is not due to the addition of white masterbatch, so don’t end up paying for high-strength polypropylene macro fibers but receive regular polypropylene macro fibers with added white masterbatch. That would be a big loss. Here’s a video to help you make the judgment:
Through this video, we can easily see that polypropylene macro fibers produced from polypropylene raw materials will return to their original transparent or semi-transparent color after burning, while fibers with added masterbatch or base material will retain the color of the fibers themselves after burning. Do you understand?
If you have any questions, please leave me a message, and I will check and reply to you. I am Director Xiao Wang!
