Methods of aligning fibers with an electric field are provided. The fibers may include dielectric fibers, such as carbon fibers. The fibers may be aligned in a liquid that is curable. Composite materials also are provided that include aligned fibers.

A system and method for forming an item from a material, which may include elongated fibers and/or stretched broken fibers. The material is placed on a first clamping portion, which is placed on a fixture. A second clamping portion is placed against the material and the first clamping portion and secured together, forming a clamping assembly. The clamping assembly is removed from the fixture and placed on a first die portion, having a first profile. A second die portion is also provided, having a second profile. In forming the item, at least one of the first die portion and the second die portion are moved toward each other such that a second surface of the first die portion and a first surface of the second die portion contact and form the material into the item generally replicating the first profile and the second profile.

A polymeric insert formed by extruding a material including polyamide and a plurality of long fibers to form a column structure having a first profile. A method for making such an insert comprising passing a polymeric material in a substantially flowable state through a die, and substantially simultaneously passing a fiber through the die, wherein during the passing step the polymeric material has a relative viscosity of less than about 60 according to ASTM D789.

A method for preparing a fiber-reinforced composite article initially performs a trial molding by a molding machine to prepare a trial composite article of a composite molding material including a polymeric material having a plurality of fibers, wherein the trial composite article has a trial fiber orientation distribution. The method further generates a predicted fiber orientation distribution fitting with the trial fiber orientation distribution, wherein the predicted fiber orientation distribution is generated by performing a first molding simulation for the trial composite article by using physical rheology parameters and physical fiber orientation parameters. The method further performs a second molding simulation for a real composite article by using the physical rheology parameters and the physical fiber orientation parameters to obtain molding conditions for the molding machine, and performs a real molding process by the molding machine by using the molding conditions to prepare the real composite article.

A plunger fuel pump for an internal combustion engine includes a pump cylinder and a pump plunger that is axially displaceable in the pump cylinder. The plunger fuel pump has a seal with an annular basic structure arranged around the circumference of the pump plunger. The seal is produced by injection molding in an axial injection direction.

Methods and an apparatus are presented. A bulk molding compound is consolidated by sending the bulk molding compound through a die breaker and an extrusion die of a consolidation system.

The present invention provides a method for manufacturing a random sheet having a better external appearance. This random sheet manufacturing method comprises: a step for spreading, in a planar manner, thin pieces of a fiber-reinforced resin obtained by impregnating a plurality of reinforcing fibers arranged oriented in one direction with a first thermoplastic resin; a step for adding a powder of a second thermoplastic resin to the thin pieces which have been spread; and a step for heating and pressurizing the thin pieces to which the powder has been added and unifying the thin pieces with each other.

A composite material molded article includes a molded product of a molding material containing a resin and fibers, in which a fiber orientation degree f of the following region A of the molded product is 0.10 or more and 1 or less. Region A: in a case where a distance between one point at each of edges of a surface of a first end portion of the molded product and edges of the other end portion is measured along a vertical direction perpendicular to lateral faces of the first end portion within a surface of the molded product, and points separated from the one point by a distance equivalent to 3.0% of the distance measured from the one point are connected with a line along the edges of the first end portion, a region surrounded with the line and the edges of the molded product is regarded as a region A.

Additive manufacturing devices and methods enable the production of 3D-printed objects with varying strengths and characteristics based on the controlled orientation of filler materials. Magnetic fields applied during stereolithography (SLA) printing orient fillers within resin mixtures. This method, when compared to traditional 3D printing techniques, provides a more dynamic and adaptable approach to material design.

A composite wheel structure is made from a fiber-reinforced molding compound (FRMC) material having different resins at different axial sections of the wheel. The FRMC material can be provided as a roll of material, with different resin chemistries at different lateral sections, and applied to a wheel mold such that the different resin chemistries are provided at different axial sections. A single carrier film may have different resin chemistries at different sections, and chopped reinforcement fibers can be deposited across the width of the film. Multiple separate carrier films with different resin chemistries can be arranged side by side, and the chopped fibers added to the combined width. Reinforcing material can be provided in a prepreg and chopped and added to single carrier film at different width sections. The chopped fibers and different resins can be impregnated together to define the multi-resin FRMC material for use in the wheel layup.