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 process for producing a component for an aircraft for the frame, e.g. formers and stringers. Aircraft are being increasingly constructed of polymeric fiber composite to reduce weight. Here, fiber composites were originally composed of thermoset polymer and carbon fibers. Thermoplastic fiber composites are increasingly a research focus. An example is poly(ether ether ketone). However, production of components of thermoplastic fiber composites is complex. An improved process for producing such components includes producing a sheet-like object with a thermoplastic fiber composite having a thermoplastic polymer material and reinforcing fibers embedded therein, forming the sheet-like object for a semifinished part, and solidification of the semifinished part to give the component. Components obtainable by this process are also disclosed.

Provided is a composite laminate having excellent releasability from a mold during a production process, excellent surface appearance (surface smoothness) and mechano-physical properties, and excellent workability and coating adhesion. A composite laminate 1 includes an A layer 2 and a B layer 3, wherein the A layer 2 is provided directly or indirectly on one or both sides of the B layer 3, the A layer 2 contains reinforcing fibers (a1) with an average fiber length of 1 μm to 300 μm, spherical particles (a11) with a volume mean particle diameter of 0.01 μm to 100 μm, and a thermoplastic resin (a2), and the B layer 3 contains reinforcing fibers (b1) with an average fiber length of 1 mm or more and a thermoplastic resin (b2).

Provided is a composite laminate having excellent releasability from a mold during a production process and excellent surface appearance (surface smoothness) and mechano-physical properties. A composite laminate 1 includes an A layer 2 and a B layer 3, wherein the A layer 2 is provided directly or indirectly on one or both sides of the B layer 3, the A layer 2 contains spherical particles (a1) with a volume mean particle diameter of 0.01 μm to 100 μm and a thermoplastic resin (a2), and the B layer 3 contains reinforcing fibers (b1) with an average fiber length of 1 mm or more and a thermoplastic resin (b2).

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 fiber-reinforced resin composite having high peeling strength between a fiber-reinforced resin and a resin foam. The fiber-reinforced resin composite (10) is a fiber-reinforced resin composite (10) including a skin (11) and a resin foam (12), the resin foam including a foamed resin (16), the skin including a fiber sheet (14), a thermoplastic matrix resin (15), and the foamed resin (16) that is continuous from the resin foam and is impregnated into the skin.

Disclosed herein a method for making a unidirectional continuous fiber-reinforced resin composite material. A resin plasticized and molten by an extruder is transported to a coating guide roller through a die head, and a hot-melt resin film layer with uniform thickness is formed on a roller surface of the coating guide roller. Simultaneously, the coating guide roller guides the hot-melt resin to continuously and uniformly coat on a row of flattened unidirectional continuous fibers along the roller surface of the coating guide roller. Subsequently, the coated flattened unidirectional continuous fibers pass through an open dip-coating roller device to effectively combine with the hot-melt resin to obtain a composite material of the hot-melt resin and fibers, which passes through a cooling and forming device to a winder under a driving force of a main traction to obtain the unidirectional continuous fiber-reinforced resin composite material.

A method for manufacturing a rotor blade component of a rotor blade includes feeding a flat sheet of material into a thermoforming system, wherein the material comprises at least one of a thermoplastic or thermoset material. The method also includes heating the flat sheet of material via the thermoforming system. Further, the method includes shaping the heated flat sheet of material via at least one roller of the thermoforming system into a desired curved shape. Moreover, the method includes dispensing the shaped sheet of material from the thermoforming system. In addition, the method includes cooling the shaped sheet of material to form the rotor blade component.

A composite forming station for forming a T-profile composite part from a planar laminate. The composite forming station includes in-line rollers arranged along a forming direction, wherein a thickness and/or edge angle each roller is greater than the preceding roller, wherein the rollers gradually splay apart feet sections of the planar laminate to convert the laminate to the T-profile composite part.

An apparatus for manufacturing tow prepreg includes: a spreading roller which adjusts an incident angle of supplied fiber; and two or more coating rollers including a first roller and a second roller which rotate while having a gap between the first roller and the second roller, in which the fiber supplied from the spreading roller passes through the gap between the first roller and the second roller to be coated with resin. The incident angle of the fiber supplied for immersing the resin is adjusted to adjust tension applied to the fiber supplied to a coating roller, such that the quantity of the resin of the tow prepreg can be controlled more precisely.