Provided is a foam sheet that can raise an electrostatic capacitance at the time of compression, and hence can improve sensitivity when used for an electrostatic capacitance sensor. The foam sheet includes: a foam layer; and a pressure-sensitive adhesive layer arranged on at least one side of the foam layer, wherein the foam sheet has a dielectric constant increase amount Q-P at 10% compression of 0.2 (F/m) or more, where P (F/m) represents a dielectric constant of the foam sheet immediately after the foam sheet has been left at rest under conditions of a temperature of 23° C. and a humidity of 50% for 2 hours, and Q (F/m) represents a dielectric constant of the foam sheet at a time when the foam sheet is compressed by 10% immediately after being left at rest under the conditions of a temperature of 23° C. and a humidity of 50% for 2 hours.

Systems and methods are provided for fabricating a laminate. One method includes laying up a first set of layers comprising tows of unidirectional thermoplastic fiber-reinforced material for the laminate, and laying up a second set of layers comprising tows of braided thermoplastic fiber-reinforced material for the laminate.

The present disclosure relates to a manufacturing method of a vehicle seatback cover, comprising a lightweight composite manufacturing step of manufacturing a lightweight composite using a reinforcing fiber and a thermoplastic resin fiber, a lightweight composite forming step of forming the lightweight composite into a vehicle seatback cover shape and preparing a vehicle seatback cover material, and a carpet bonding step of bonding the vehicle seatback cover material and a carpet material.

Lightweight, structurally reinforced thermoplastic objects comprising at least one reinforcement zone are manufactured by providing a heatable rigid forming chamber with a chamber volume. At a temperature below the thermoplastic softening temperature, the chamber is loaded with a plurality of thermoplastic lofting bodies and a plurality of thermoplastic reinforcement bodies wherein the lofting bodies are heat-loftable bodies comprising a thermoplastic matrix containing an elastically compressed assembly of reinforcement fibers embedded therein, lofty non-woven bodies comprising an elastically compressible assembly of reinforcement fibers and thermoplastic fibers. Upon closing the chamber, lofting bodies of lofty non-wovens are elastically compressed, producing an internal pressure. After heating the chamber above softening temperature, reinforcement bodies and lofting bodies are ow thermoplastically formable, and lofting bodies configured as heat-loftable bodies produce a second internal pressure. After a predetermined processing time, the chamber is cooled yielding a structurally reinforced object.

The present invention relates to a layered composite comprising a poly carbonate-based matrix, possibly containing fibres, and an outer layer of special poly carbonate-polyester blends, and also to a layered composite such as that described above and provided with painting on that side of its outer layer which is facing away from the matrix, to a method for producing these composites and also to their use for the production for example of automobile add-on parts.

The present invention is directed to a curable composition including: an isocyanate-functional prepolymer; an epoxy-containing component present in an amount of at least 10 percent by weight of the composition; and a latent curing agent having an ability to react with at least one of the isocyanate-functional prepolymer and the epoxy-containing component upon exposure to an external energy source. The present invention is also directed to methods of making the compositions, methods of coating a substrate, methods of adhering substrates and coated substrates.

A fiber-reinforced resin molded article is produced by pressing a plurality of thermoplastic base material sheets, each of which contains a plurality of reinforcing fibers, in a stacked state where the base material sheets are stacked so that the fiber directions (orientation direction of the reinforcing fibers) are alternated. Each base material sheet is provided with a cut including: a plurality of lengthwise cut lines extending parallel to the fiber direction; and a plurality of crosswise cut lines extending parallel to a direction that is perpendicular to the fiber direction. A plurality of cut interruption parts for interrupting the lengthwise cut lines in the fiber direction are formed. The cut interruption parts are arranged in a staggered manner so as to be displaced from each other in the fiber direction.

The invention relates to a multilayered pultruded structures having a weatherable cap layer over a pultruded substrate. The cap layer provides improved weatherability, chemical resistance and surface quality for pultruded structures. The cap layer is either an acrylic, vinyl or styrenic cap layer covered with a thin layer blend of polyvinylidene fluoride and acrylic polymers, or a cross-linked acrylic outer layer. A useful cap layer would be a UV resistant acrylic cap layer, such as a Solarkote® resins from Arkema, covered by a co-extruded blend of polyvinylidene fluoride, such as Kynar® resins from Arkema, with an acrylic resin, such as Plexiglas® resins from Arkema. The highly weatherable and chemical resistant pultruded structure is especially useful in window and door profiles.

The purpose of the present invention is to further enhance the strength of a manufactured composite structure by further suppressing the occurrence of wrinkling. A method for manufacturing a composite structure, the method comprising: a lamination step for layering a plurality of fiber sheets and molding a plate-form laminate; a forming step for forming a recess formed by a curved surface in a prescribed portion of the laminate; a short-direction deformation step for deforming the laminate in the short direction thereof after the forming step to configure a long-direction cross-section of the laminate in a prescribed shape; and a long-direction deformation step for deforming the laminate in the long direction after the forming step, so that the recess formed in the forming step deforms, to configure a short-direction cross section in a prescribed shape.

A connecting tape microstructure includes a reinforced layer and two plastic layers. The reinforced layer has a first Young's modulus. The plastic layers are disposed on two opposite sides of the reinforced layer. Each of the plastic layers has a second Young's modulus. The first Young's modulus is larger than the second Young's modulus.