A continuous device (1) is provided for impregnating, in a single step, strands or ribbons of natural fibers (100) with a specific aqueous polymer dispersion to consolidate the fibers at the core of the fiber bundle and to improve their mechanical strength without any need for twisting. The device includes a stretching component (10) for elongating by the strand or the ribbon of natural fibers by stretching to give them a required yarn count, an impregnating component (20) for impregnating the fibers with the aqueous dispersion, a shaper for shaping/calibrating the wrung fibers, a dryer (40) for drying the shaped/calibrated fibers, and a conditioner (50) for conditioning the dried fibers to transform them into yarn or ribbon.

A thermoplastic bonded preform and method of manufacturing the preform are disclosed. The preform comprises a primary fiber comprising little or no sizing; a mechanical fiber; and a thermoplastic.

A method of treating a carbon substrate, includes the successive steps of impregnating the carbon substrate with an aqueous solution containing an amorphous fluorinated copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene and of perfluoromethoxy dioxole, drying the carbon substrate at a pressure lower than the atmospheric pressure, and obtaining a carbon substrate impregnated with a fluorinated copolymer. Such a carbon substrate may be used as a gas diffusion layer in a fuel cell.

To provide a method for manufacturing a novel molded article using a commingled yarn and a composite material using a commingled yarn. The method for manufacturing a molded article, includes disposing a commingled yarn containing a continuous reinforcing fiber and a continuous thermoplastic resin fiber on a part of a surface of a prepreg, the prepreg containing continuous reinforcing fibers paralleling at least unidirectionally, and a thermosetting resin impregnated between the continuous reinforcing fibers, and heat-processing the prepreg with the commingled yarn.

A molding material comprising a fibrous reinforcement layer and a curable resin matrix. The fibrous reinforcement layer comprises a non-woven fabric comprising a single layer of unidirectional tows arranged at an angle greater than 0° in relation to the lengthwise direction of the fabric and a support structure for maintaining the arrangement of the tows.

Additive fabrication methods for 3D composite objects having preform fiber reinforcements embedded in a matrix material include providing local heat and mechanical energy to at least partially melt, impregnate and solidify the matrix material forming at least one reinforced composite layer of the object. Successive layers are added in accordance to a computer generated tool path to form a three dimensional object with useful features.

A method of manufacturing a fiber-reinforced resin material, includes preparing a kneaded material by melting a thermoplastic resin and kneading the molten thermoplastic resin with reinforcing fibers; preparing a reinforcing fiber-impregnated material including a supercritical fluid by accommodating the kneaded material in a sealed space and supplying the supercritical fluid into the sealed space such that the molten thermoplastic resin is impregnated into the reinforcing fibers included in the kneaded material; and manufacturing the fiber-reinforced resin material by extracting the reinforcing fiber-impregnated material from the sealed space and leaving the reinforcing fiber-impregnated material to stand in a reduced-pressure atmosphere such that the supercritical fluid foams.

A method of manufacturing a part, includes: obtaining recycled fibers; mixing the recycled fibers with a thermoplastic to obtain a fiber-reinforced intermediate; and manufacturing the part with the fiber-reinforced intermediate. The recycled fibers may come from a grinding operation of recycled composite parts. A feedstock may be manufactured using recycled fibers. The feedstock may then be used in subsequent manufacturing.

The invention enhances the production efficiency in the production of prepreg by allowing the arrangement property and rectilinearity of reinforcing fibers to be well maintained, allowing the basis weight uniformity of an applied resin to be good, and further allowing a high line speed and suppression of contamination in the process to be achieved. The invention provides a method of producing a prepreg, which includes: discharging a molten resin from a discharge portion; introducing the discharged resin by an air flow; and capturing the discharged resin on a reinforcing fiber sheet conveyed continuously, wherein a key point is that the discharged resin is captured in a region in which the reinforcing fiber sheet is conveyed substantially in planar form.

A fiber-reinforced resin material used for molding a fiber-reinforced resin which includes a matrix resin and reinforcing fiber bundles A including chopped fiber bundles each including 100 or more single fibers, wherein the product of an average porosity within fiber bundles P.sub.fav (−) and an average fiber bundle thickness t.sub.fav (mm) is 0 mm or more and 0.01 mm or less and a porosity of composite P.sub.c (−) is 0.02 or more and 0.4 or less, and a method for producing the same. The fiber-reinforced resin material is a molding material excellent in terms of productivity and reduction in LCA, which can give high mechanical properties to a molded article using the molding material and further which is excellent also in flowability during molding.