Basalt is a hard, dense, dark volcanic rock composed chiefly of plagioclase, pyroxene, and olivine, and often having a glassy appearance. The name "basalt" is usually given to a wide variety of dark-brown to black volcanic rocks, which form when molten lava from deep in the earth's crust rises up and solidifies. Basalt deposits frequently cover areas on many thousands of square kilometers. Basalt differs from granite in being a fine-grained extrusive rock and having a higher content of Iron and Magnesium. The density of basalt rock is between 2.8 and 2.9 g/cm³. It is also extremely hard - 5 to 9 on Mho's scale. This gives basalt a superior abrasion resistance and casted basalt is often used as a paving and building material. While the commercial applications of cast basalt have been well known for a long time, it is less known that basalt can be formed into continuous fiber having unique mechanical and chemical properties.
Composite test panel was fabricated by resin transfer molding. The panel consisted of 5 plies of wide weave basalt fabric and the resulting composite was roughly equal to a [0º/90º] laminate. The resin used was Shell EPON-862 with curing agent W. The fiber volume in the composite was approximately 44%.
