A fiber-reinforced fabric, composite materials formed from such fabrics, and methods of making the fiber-reinforced fabric or composite materials, are provided. The fabrics and composite materials demonstrate improved fatigue performance relative to conventional fiber-reinforced fabrics.

Some embodiments of a compression mold for forming a rib-and-sheet part includes a mold cavity and a mold insert. A sheet is placed in the mold cavity, and the mold insert is placed on the sheet. A preform assemblage is placed in a gap that is formed between the mold insert and the wall of the mold cavity. A mold core is biased above the preform assemblage, prior to molding operations, via a compression spring.

An object is to provide a composite material manufacturing method for improving interlayer strength. The present disclosure provides a composite material manufacturing method of laminating a plurality of prepregs (10) formed of a fiber reinforced base material impregnated with an uncured matrix resin and performing hot molding, the method including: using the prepregs (10) each provided with a gap layer (12) that does not contain a resin and is continuous in an in-plane direction and resin layers (11a, 11b) disposed on both surfaces of the gap layer; disposing a plurality of short fibers (13) on facing surfaces of the prepregs (10) that are adjacent to each other; and evacuating the laminated prepregs (10) to degas the gap layer (12) and then performing hot molding.

A method of forming a fiber reinforced article comprising following steps: 101) providing a composite preform comprising of thermoplastic polymer matrix and reinforcing fibers, wherein the preform comprises an initial volume and initial fiber orientation, 102) loading the preform inside a radial molding apparatus comprising of at least three adjacent die segments next to each other forming a mold cavity in an initial position having an initial volume, 103) molding the preform by moving the die segments, which are in direct contact with each other during the initial position and movement and a compressed position, and which are perpendicular to a common longitudinal axis of the preform, wherein the initial volume of the mold cavity decreases and the die segments compress the preform to a form defined by the mold cavity in the compressed position having a final volume, which is smaller or equal to the initial volume of the preform, 104) opening the mold cavity, and 105) removing the obtained fiber reinforced article, which comprises a tailored fiber orientation, from the mold cavity, wherein the continuous reinforcing fibers follow to a surface contour of said article.

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.

A thrust reverser cascade of an aircraft engine comprises a frame and a vane overmolded onto the frame. The frame and the vane each comprise reinforcement fibers in a thermoplastic matrix. A method is disclosed for manufacturing the thrust reverser cascade or another part comprising an aerodynamic surface configured to interact with a flow of fluid. The method comprises providing a first portion of the part and overmolding a second portion of the part onto the first portion where the second portion includes the aerodynamic surface.

In one embodiment, an assembly fixture may include a base structure including a plurality of strands of a fiber-reinforced thermoplastic material comprising a thermoplastic embedded with a plurality of reinforcement fibers, wherein the plurality of reinforcement fibers is aligned within each strand of the plurality of strands, and wherein the base structure further comprises an anisotropic thermal expansion property based on an orientation of the plurality of reinforcement fibers within the base structure, The assembly fixture may further include a plurality of fastening structures coupled to the base structure, wherein the plurality of fastening structures is configured to fasten a plurality of components of a composite structure for assembly using a heated bonding process.

The present invention relates to a molding made of reactive foam, wherein at least one fiber (F) is arranged partially inside the molding, i.e. is surrounded by the reactive foam. The two ends of the respective fiber (F) not surrounded by the reactive foam thus each project from one side of the corresponding molding. The reactive foam is produced by a mold foaming process. The present invention further provides a panel comprising at least one such molding and at least one further layer (S1). The present invention further provides processes for producing the moldings according to the invention from reactive foam/the panels according to the invention and also provides for the use thereof as a rotor blade in wind turbines for example.

The present invention relates to a molding made of foam, wherein at least one fiber (F) is located partly within the molding, i.e. is surrounded by the foam. The two ends of the respective fiber (F) not surrounded by the foam thus each project from one side of the molding. The foam is produced by polymerization of a reactive mixture (rM) comprising at least one compound having isocyanate-reactive groups, at least one blowing agent and at least one polyisocyanate.

Systems and methods are provided for fabricating composite parts. One embodiment is a method that includes heating a female die having a receptacle and a complementary male die, heating an extruder above a melting point of a thermoplastic within chopped prepreg fiber, in order to melt chopped prepreg fiber disposed within the extruder, extruding the chopped prepreg fiber from the extruder into the receptacle of the female die while the chopped prepreg fiber remains molten, pressing the male die into the female die, causing the molten chopped prepreg fiber to fully enter receptacle, and cooling the chopped prepreg fiber in the receptacle of the female die to form a composite part.