Embodiments described herein can include a composition comprising a thermoset resin with a plurality of graphene flakes dispersed therein, each of the plurality of graphene flakes having a lateral dimension and a thickness. The composition further comprises a reinforcement material dispersed in the thermoset resin. At least about 90% of the plurality of graphene flakes are oriented such that the lateral dimension is within about 10 degrees of a parallel alignment with a horizontal plane. In some embodiments, at least about 95%, or at least about 99% of the plurality of graphene flakes are oriented such that the lateral dimension is within about 10 degrees of a parallel alignment with the horizontal plane. In some embodiments, the reinforcement material can include at least one of a plurality of fibers or a plurality of beads.

An object is to provide an incised prepreg having desired formability stably, wherein the incised prepreg contains unidirectionally oriented reinforcing fibers and matrix resin and has an incised region containing a plurality of incisions made to divide reinforcing fibers, wherein the incised region includes a plurality of incision rows, each containing a plurality of incisions having nearly equal fiber-directionally projected lengths and aligned at substantially constant intervals in the fiber direction and wherein the distance L1, measured at right angles to the fiber direction, between two incision rows located on either side of an arbitrarily selected incision row and the fiber-directionally projected length L2 of the latter incision row satisfy the following relation: −1.0<L1/L2<0.5.

Provided herein is a method for aligning discontinuous fibres comprising: providing a stream of discontinuous fibres in a dispersion medium; applying a shear stress to the dispersion medium to align at least a portion of the discontinuous fibres; and disposing the at least a portion of the aligned discontinuous fibres on a substrate thereby providing a layer of substantially aligned discontinuous fibres. Also provided are discontinuous fibres aligned by such method and a composite material formed from the aligned discontinuous fibres.

Provided herein is a method for aligning discontinuous fibres comprising: providing a stream of discontinuous fibres in a dispersion medium; applying a shear stress to the dispersion medium to align at least a portion of the discontinuous fibres; and disposing the at least a portion of the aligned discontinuous fibres on a substrate thereby providing a layer of substantially aligned discontinuous fibres. Also provided are discontinuous fibres aligned by such method and a composite material formed from the aligned discontinuous fibres.

A method of forming a fiber reinforced composite material includes cutting a plurality of reinforcing fibers to a selected length, directing the plurality of reinforcing fibers through a fiber alignment mechanism, orienting the plurality of reinforcing fibers in a selected direction via the fiber alignment mechanism, and adhering the aligned plurality of reinforcing fibers to a substrate material to form the fiber reinforced composite material. A system for manufacturing a fiber reinforced composite material includes a feed mechanism to direct a substrate material along a selected path, a cutting mechanism to cut a plurality of reinforcing fibers to a selected length, and a fiber alignment mechanism to orient the plurality of reinforcing fibers in a selected direction before adhering the plurality of reinforcing fibers to the substrate material.

A process for forming a moldable, uncured nonwoven composite containing forming a outermost nonwoven layer, forming a structural nonwoven layer, needling the structural nonwoven layer and the outermost nonwoven layer together from both the outer surface of the outermost nonwoven layer and the second surface of the structural nonwoven layer, applying an uncured, water-based thermosetting resin having a cure temperature of at least about 160° C. to the second surface of the structural nonwoven layer, and at least partially drying the uncured, wet nonwoven composite. Heat and pressure may be applied to form the moldable, uncured composite. A moldable, uncured nonwoven composite and a molded, cured nonwoven composite are also disclosed.

The present disclosure relates to composite articles comprising non-linear elongated nanostructures and associated systems and methods. In certain embodiments, collections of carbon nanotubes or other elongated nanostructures can be used to provide mechanical reinforcement along multiple directions within a composite article.

Sheet-like composite parts are manufactured by: a) providing a substantially planar arrangement (A, B, A′) comprising a core layer (B) of a fleece material made of fleece thermoplastic fibers and reinforcement fibers, sandwiched between a pair of skin layers (A, A′), of a skin thermoplastic and optionally reinforcing fibers, the faces of the core layers adjacent and substantially parallel the skin layers, b) heating and pressing the sandwich arrangement (A,B,A′) followed by cooling, thereby obtaining the composite part, wherein the compression strength of the composite part is improved by selecting a core layer (B) which is a core layer having reinforcement fibers predominantly oriented in a direction (Z) perpendicular to the first and second faces.

The present invention relates to a method of printing a composite material (1), for example polymeric, carbonaceous, siliconic or metallic comprising steps of: i) providing a plurality of bundles (2) of reinforcement fibres (4), wherein the reinforcement fibres (4) have a length in the range 3-50 mm and are in the number of about 1,000-100,000 in each bundle (2); ii) aligning the bundles (2) along a predetermined path (X, X′); iii) incorporating at least part of the bundles (2) into a matrix (6, 8), for example polymeric, carbonaceous, siliconic or metallic, preserving the alignment along said path (X, X′); iv) laying and solidifying at least one layer (8) of the matrix (6, 8) of step iii) to make the composite material (1).

This disclosure relates to electromagnetic absorbing materials, and, more particularly, to a flocked carbon fiber composite material and methods for forming thereof. The flocked carbon fiber material comprises electrostatically applied carbon fibers, having a Z-plane component; electromagnetic modifiers; a substrate; a bonding agent; and an encapsulation agent. The method for forming said flocked carbon fiber composite material comprises preparing carbon fiber strands; separating carbon fiber strand clumps into carbon fiber strands; separating carbon fiber strands into carbon fibers; applying a bonding agent to a substrate; and electrostatically applying the carbon fibers to the substrate. The flocking device used to perform this method comprises an insulative section; a high voltage power source; a container attached to the insulative section; and a filtering section attached to the container.