The objective of the present invention is to provide a prepreg and a fiber reinforced composite material using this prepreg. This prepreg has good handleability, is suitable for producing a reinforced composite material in a short-time and without using an autoclave, and is capable of yielding a fiber reinforced composite material exhibiting excellent impact resistance, wherein the occurrence of voids has been suppressed. To attain the objective, this prepreg comprises a reinforced fiber [A] that is layered and partially impregnated with an epoxy resin composition containing an epoxy resin [B] and a hardener [C], the impregnation rate being 30 to 95%. In this prepreg, a thermoplastic resin [D] insoluble in the epoxy resin [B] is distributed unevenly over a surface on one side of the prepreg, and a portion not impregnated with the epoxy resin composition is localized in the layer of the reinforced fiber [A] on the side where the thermoplastic resin [D] is distributed unevenly. This prepreg has a localization parameter , which defines the degree of the localization to be in the range of 0.10<<0.45.

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 method for creating a fan cowl with a hollow hat stiffener includes pressing a resin film between a non-crimp fabric (NCF) and a release poly-film to create a resin-fabric sheet. The method further includes cutting the resin-fabric sheet to a pre-determined shape to create at least one of a first resin-fabric preform, a second resin-fabric preform, and a third resin-fabric preform, draping at least the first resin-fabric preform over a tool to create an outer layer of the fan cowl, setting a mandrel over the outer layer, and draping the second resin-fabric preform over at least a portion of the mandrel and at least a portion of the first resin-fabric preform to form the hollow hat stiffener having a geometry similar to a shape of the mandrel.

A prepreg laminate is described that is a fiber-reinforced plastic material having high rigidity, lightweight properties and excellent moldability, where the prepreg laminate is obtained by a prepreg (A), in which non-continuous reinforcing fibers are impregnated with a thermosetting resin or thermoplastic resin, and a prepreg (B), in which non-continuous reinforcing fibers are impregnated with a thermoplastic resin, being laminated adjacent to each other, and by the prepreg (A) being disposed on at least one surface, at least some combinations of the prepreg (A) and the prepreg (B) adjacent to each other forming an overlap region that satisfies at least one of the requirements (1) and (2) as defined.

An apparatus and method for the automated manufacturing of three-dimensional (3D) composite-based objects is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a material feeder, a printer, a powder system, a transfer system, and optionally a fuser. The method comprises inserting a stack of substrate sheets into a material feeder, transferring a sheet of the stack from the material feeder to a printer, depositing fluid on the single sheet while the sheet rests on a printer platen, transferring the sheet from the printer to a powder system, depositing powder onto the single sheet such that the powder adheres to the areas of the sheet onto which the printer has deposited fluid, removing any powder that did not adhere to the sheet, optionally melting the powder on the substrate, and repeating the steps for as many additional sheets as required for making a specified 3D object.

A carbon fiber-reinforced resin composition of the present invention includes: sizing agent-coated carbon fibers in which carbon fibers are coated with a sizing agent; and a matrix resin. The sizing agent includes at least an aliphatic epoxy compound (A) and an aromatic epoxy compound (B1) as an aromatic compound (B). The sizing agent-coated carbon fibers have a ratio (a)/(b) of 0.50 to 0.90 where (a) is the height (cps) of a component having a binding energy (284.6 eV) attributed to CHx, CC, and CC and (b) is the height (cps) of a component having binding energy (286.1 eV) attributed to CO in a C.sub.1s core spectrum of the surface of the sizing agent measured by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy at a photoelectron takeoff angle of 15.

An apparatus and method for the automated manufacturing of three-dimensional (3D) composite-based objects is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a material feeder, a printer, a powder system, a transfer system, and optionally a fuser. The method comprises inserting a stack of substrate sheets into a material feeder, transferring a sheet of the stack from the material feeder to a printer, depositing fluid on the single sheet while the sheet rests on a printer platen, transferring the sheet from the printer to a powder system, depositing powder onto the single sheet such that the powder adheres to the areas of the sheet onto which the printer has deposited fluid, removing any powder that did not adhere to the sheet, optionally melting the powder on the substrate, and repeating the steps for as many additional sheets as required for making a specified 3D object.

A sheet-like reinforcing fiber base material reduces waste in production of a fiber-reinforced resin molded product and has a small position shift of a reinforcing fiber base material for reinforcement, as well as a preform and a fiber-reinforced resin molded product. The sheet-like reinforcing fiber base material is configured to maintain a sheet-like form by arraying and arranging reinforcing fiber bundles such that longitudinal directions thereof are one identical direction and restraining positions of adjacent reinforcing fiber bundles with respect to each other. In the sheet-like reinforcing fiber base material, the placement amount of reinforcing fibers is partly increased, such that the placement weight of reinforcing fibers per unit area is non-uniform.

A semifinished product for making a composite fiber molded part is made by first spinning from a row of orifices of a spinning nozzle low-melting fibers of a thermoplastic. These low-melting fibers are then combined into a laminated semifinished product with high-melting reinforcement fibers of the same thermoplastic but having a melting temperature higher than the melting temperature of the low-melting fibers.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a formed article that excels in shape retainability and appearance, using a sheet that contains a thermoplastic resin fiber and a continuous reinforcing fiber. The method for manufacturing a formed article comprises irradiating laser light onto a sheet having, arranged therein with a certain directionality, yarns that contain a thermoplastic resin fiber and a continuous reinforcing fiber, so as to allow at least a part of the thermoplastic resin fiber to be impregnated into the continuous reinforcing fiber; the laser light being irradiated so as to satisfy at least one of A or B below, over at least 70% or more of the laser irradiation area; A: irradiated in a direction 5 to 85 away from the direction of arrangement of yarns in the in-plane direction of the sheet; and B: irradiated in a direction 30 to 60 away from the direction perpendicular to the sheet plane.