The following is provided as a member for a composite material that has excellent stiffness, heat resistance, and productivity. A member for a composite material containing resin component that contains polyaryletherketone as a main component. The resin component has a molecular weight distribution of 3.8 or more and 8 or less and a mass average molecular weight of 86000 or less. The member for a composite material has a thickness more than 15 μm. The composite material contains a resin and reinforcing fibers having a number average fiber length of 5 mm or more.

The following is provided as a member for a composite material that has excellent stiffness, durability, impact resistance, and productivity. A member for a composite material containing a resin component that contains polyaryletherketone as a main component. The resin component has a molecular weight distribution of 4 or more and 8 or less and a mass average molecular weight of 88000 or more. The composite material contains a resin and reinforcing fibers having a number average fiber length of 5 mm or more.

The present invention provides a prepreg from which a fiber-reinforced composite article in which interlayer peeling at the time of a point impact is suppressed can be obtained; a fiber-reinforced composite article; and a manufacturing method thereof.

An epoxy resin composition for fiber reinforced composite materials comprising components (A) to (E): component (A), an epoxy resin; component (B), a dicyandiamide or a derivative thereof; component (C), a polyisocyanate compound; component (D), a urea compound as represented by formula (1): ##STR00001##
(wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are each independently H, CH.sub.3, OCH.sub.3, OC.sub.2H.sub.5, NO.sub.2, halogen, or NH—CO NR.sup.3R.sup.4; and R.sup.3 and R.sup.4 are each independently a hydrocarbon group, allyl group, alkoxy group, alkenyl group, aralkyl group, or an alicyclic compound containing both R.sup.3 and R.sup.4, all containing 1 to 8 carbon atoms); and component (E), at least one compound selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium salts, phosphonium salts, imidazole compounds, and phosphine compounds.

Disclosed herein are: a unidirectional fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet that includes a thermoplastic resin and reinforcing fibers, the reinforcing fibers being drawn in the lengthwise direction, the sheet including a fiber-reinforced layer including at least 40% by volume of the reinforcing fibers, and a resin layer that is 0% or more and less than 5% by volume of the reinforcing fibers; a laminated panel and structural material including the unidirectional fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet; and a method for manufacturing the unidirectional fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin sheet in which the reinforcing fibers are impregnated with the thermoplastic resin so that the tensile strength of the reinforcing fibers is in the range of 800 cN to 2,000 cN.

A reinforcement for increasing the strength and toughness and other properties in both transverse and in-piano directions for a composite material, and methods of manufacture therefor. The reinforcement has a layer of a nanoforest of vertical nanotubes or nanowires and a layer of horizontal nanotubes or nanowires. The reinforcement can be made by rolling a vertical nanoforest to produce a collapsed layer of horizontal nanofubes or nanowires, then growing a vertical nanoforest on the collapsed layer. The reinforcement can be grown directly on fibers which are used to reinforce the composite material, or alternatively Interleaved with layers of those fibers before the composite part is cured. The reinforcement and manufacturing method are compatible with almost any composite material in any shape, including epoxy, polymer, or ceramic matrix composites, or any manufacturing method, including prepreg, wet-layup and matrix film stacking. The present invention reduces scrap, rework, and repair hours for composites manufacturing.

A sheet formed from carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin with high heat resistance, and a production method of said sheet is provided. This sheet is formed from a carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic resin that contains carbon fibers, dichloromethane, and a thermoplastic resin containing at least one of a polycarbonate resin and a polyarylate resin. The aforementioned at least one of a polycarbonate resin and a polyarylate resin has a constituent unit derived from a dihydric phenol represented by formula (1), and the content of the dichloromethane contained in the sheet is 10-10,000 ppm by mass. (In formula (1), R.sub.1-R.sub.4 independently represent a hydrogen, a halogen, a nitro, or a methyl group; X represents a divalent group represented by any of formulas (2) to (4).) ##STR00001##

Provided is a composite prepreg including a region (A) containing a thermosetting resin (a) and a reinforcing fiber and a region (B) containing a thermosetting resin (b) and a reinforcing fiber, the composite prepreg satisfying conditions (i) and (ii) or satisfying conditions (ii) and (iii):

(i) The thermosetting resin (b) is a resin having a gel time Tb longer than a gel time Ta of the thermosetting resin (a), and in at least a part of a temperature range of 40° C. or more and 180° C. or less, satisfy Ta/Tb 0.8;

(ii) A ratio of the region (A) on a surface of the composite prepreg is 20 to 80%; and

(iii) The thermosetting resin (b) is a resin having a higher heat generation starting temperature Eb than a heat generation starting temperature Ea of the thermosetting resin (a), and in a differential scanning calorimetry chart obtained by measuring at 5° C./min with 40° C. as a starting temperature, satisfy Eb−Ea≥30.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a prepreg, in which a matrix resin is applied to a reinforcing fiber sheet, where the sheet can continuously run without clogging due to generated fuzz, even at a high running speed, and where the sheet can be efficiently impregnated with the matrix resin. The prepreg is produced by a method which includes a step of allowing a reinforcing fiber sheet to pass horizontally or slantingly through the inside of a coating section storing a matrix resin to apply the matrix resin to the reinforcing fiber sheet, where the coating section includes a liquid pool and a narrowed section which are in communication with each other, where the liquid pool has a portion whose cross-sectional area decreases continuously along a running direction of the reinforcing fiber sheet, and wherein the narrowed section has a slit-like cross-section and has a smaller cross-sectional area than the largest cross-sectional area of the liquid pool.

The present invention provides a prepreg including a radical polymerizable resin composition, containing at least a radical polymerizable resin and a polymerization initiator, and a fiber substrate. The prepreg is characterized in that both surfaces of the prepreg are coated with a film having an oxygen permeability of 200 (ml/m.sup.2.Math.24 h.Math.atm) or less. The prepreg can suppress the delay of the proceeding of curing reaction after storage at room temperature, can allow curing reaction to properly proceed during heating of the prepreg, can suppress the occurrence of a molding defect, and can produce a molded product having excellent workability, and thus can be preferably used for an automobile member, a rail vehicle member, an aerospace plane member, a civil engineering and construction member, a casing of an OA device, and the like, and can be particularly preferably used for an automobile member, a housing equipment member, a sport member, etc.