According to one embodiment, a system for manufacturing a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg includes a mechanism for moving a fabric or mat and a drying mechanism that removes residual moisture from at least one surface of the fabric or mat. The system also includes a resin application mechanism that applies a reactive resin to the fabric or mat and a press mechanism that presses the coated fabric or mat to ensure that the resin fully saturates the fabric or mat. The system further includes a curing oven through which the coated fabric or mat is moved to polymerize the resin and thereby form a thermoplastic polymer so that upon exiting the oven, the fabric or mat is fully impregnated with the thermoplastic polymer. During at least a portion of the process, humidity in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat is maintained at substantially zero.

A fiber-reinforced resin molding material molded product includes a fiber-reinforced resin molding material prepared by impregnating chopped fiber bundles obtained by cutting a reinforcing fiber bundle with a matrix resin, wherein in a region excluding 30 mm from an edge of the molded product, when an arbitrary rectangular region having an area of 40 mm.sup.2 or more and defined by a thickness of the molded product and a width in a direction perpendicular to a thickness direction of the molded product is set in a cross section in an arbitrary thickness direction of the molded product, with respect to a bundle thickness of the chopped fiber bundles present in the set rectangular region.

A method of forming a composite sheet material, the method comprises energising a pair of electrodes to apply an electrostatic charge to a bed of fibres located therebetween thereby orienting at least some of the fibres to be substantially orthogonal to the electrodes and sandwiching at least some of the oriented fibres between a first sheet and a second sheet. The first sheet may be subsequently removed. A third sheet may be used to sandwich the fibres between the second sheet and the third sheet. Apparatus (100) is disclosed for carrying out the method.

A random mat includes a chopped fiber bundle [A] obtained by obliquely cutting a partially separated fiber bundle [B] prepared by alternately forming separation-processed sections, each of which is separated into a plurality of bundles, and not-separation-processed sections, along the lengthwise direction of a fiber bundle, wherein the total cross-sectional area of reinforcing fibers exhibits a specific change amount between both tips of the chopped fiber bundle [A]; a production method produces the random mat; and a fiber-reinforced resin molding material uses the random mat.

A fiber-reinforced resin molding material is obtained by impregnating a chopped fiber bundle with a matrix resin, has a layered structure including three or more layers in a thickness direction thereof, and satisfies the relationships Lao>Lam and Wao>Wam, where Lao and Wao represent the number average fiber length and the number average fiber bundle width, respectively, of the chopped fiber bundle in the outermost layer thereof, and Lam and Wam represent the number average fiber length and the number average fiber bundle width, respectively, of the chopped fiber bundle in a middle layer thereof.

According to one embodiment, a system for manufacturing a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg includes a mechanism for moving a fabric or mat and a drying mechanism that removes residual moisture from at least one surface of the fabric or mat. The system also includes a resin application mechanism that applies a reactive resin to the fabric or mat and a press mechanism that presses the coated fabric or mat to ensure that the resin fully saturates the fabric or mat. The system further includes a curing oven through which the coated fabric or mat is moved to polymerize the resin and thereby form a thermoplastic polymer so that upon exiting the oven, the fabric or mat is fully impregnated with the thermoplastic polymer. During at least a portion of the process, humidity in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat is maintained at substantially zero.

According to one embodiment, a system for manufacturing a fully impregnated thermoplastic prepreg includes a mechanism for moving a fabric or mat and a drying mechanism that removes residual moisture from at least one surface of the fabric or mat. The system also includes a resin application mechanism that applies a reactive resin to the fabric or mat and a press mechanism that presses the coated fabric or mat to ensure that the resin fully saturates the fabric or mat. The system further includes a curing oven through which the coated fabric or mat is moved to polymerize the resin and thereby form a thermoplastic polymer so that upon exiting the oven, the fabric or mat is fully impregnated with the thermoplastic polymer. During at least a portion of the process, humidity in the vicinity of the coated fabric or mat is maintained at substantially zero.

A system for debundling fiber tow into chopped fibers is provided that has one or more reels of fiber tow, a cutting element configured to receive the fiber tow to form chopped fiber, and a tube with introduced gas flow configured to receive the chopped fiber. A moving belt is positioned under the tube to collect the chopped fiber. A dispenser is positioned along the moving belt for applying a binder or additive. A treatment chamber receives the treated chopped fiber. A process for debundling fiber tow into chopped fibers is provided that supplies one or more reels of fiber tow to a cutting system, drops the chopped fiber into a tube with introduced gas flow to debundle the chopped fiber with a vortex, collects the chopped fiber exiting the tube onto a moving belt, chemically treats the chopped fiber, and provides the chemically treated chopped to a treatment chamber.

A method of manufacturing a moulded article from first and second moulding compounds includes attaching a first moulding component to a carrier tool, placing the carrier tool and the attached first moulding component in a mould, applying a first moulding process, removing the carrier tool, placing a second moulding component in the mould, and applying a second moulding process to shape the first and second moulding components and bond the first moulding component to the second moulding component. A moulded article is also disclosed.

A discontinuous fiber-reinforced composite material including a discontinuous reinforcing fiber aggregate of a discontinuous reinforcing fiber having a number average fiber length of 3 to 100 mm and a matrix resin, the discontinuous reinforcing fiber aggregate including a plurality of discontinuous reinforcing fiber bundles having a predetermined number of unidirectionally-bundled single yarns of the discontinuous reinforcing fiber, wherein the discontinuous reinforcing fiber bundle has a cut surface inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to an orientation direction of the single yarn of the discontinuous reinforcing fiber bundle and has different fiber bundle lengths defined as a distance between both ends along the orientation direction of the single yarn of the discontinuous reinforcing fiber bundle, and the longer the fiber bundle length of the discontinuous reinforcing fiber bundle is, the smaller a tip angle defined as an acute angle at an end of a two-dimensional plane projection of the discontinuous reinforcing fiber bundle is.