Disclosed herein are methods for designing composite materials with improved toughness.

Provided is an electromagnetic wave shielding and absorbing molded article which has excellent shielding properties and absorbency for electromagnetic waves having a specific frequency. The electromagnetic wave shielding and absorbing molded article includes a thermoplastic resin composition including stainless steel fibers, and the content ratio of the stainless steel fibers in the molded article is from 0.5 to 20 mass %. The electromagnetic wave shielding and absorbing molded article has a thickness from 0.5 mm to 5 mm, and a shielding property of 10 dB or greater and an absorbency of 25% or greater for electromagnetic waves having any frequency in a frequency domain from 59 GHz to 100 GHz.

In order to solve problems of strength and volume of part, the invention provides an article reinforced by multi-dimensional fibers and a method for manufacturing the article. The article includes a core portion and a shell layer portion. The core portion is made of thermoplastic resin and the fibers in which a majority of and a minority of the fibers are respectively arranged in a major and a minor directions. The method includes: preparing a core portion made of thermoplastic resin and the fibers in which a majority of and a minority of the fibers are respectively arranged in a major and a minor directions, loading the core portion into a mold, and forming a shell layer portion in the mold to enclose the core portion. The article manufactured by the method of this invention can reduce the weight and increase the strength of the parts.

A non-woven carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic (CFRTP) composite object is formed by the variable frequency microwave (VFM) irradiation of a mixed fiber sheet of thermoplastic fibers, carbon fibers and wavy carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The mixed fiber sheets are prepared from a slurry of the thermoplastic fibers, carbon fibers, and wavy CNTs such that the wavy CNTs contact the carbon fibers and thermoplastic fibers. Upon irradiation with VFM radiation, the wavy CNTs generate heat and transfer the heat to the thermoplastic fibers, causing melting of the thermoplastic to form the matrix of the CFRTP composite object. The mixed fiber sheets can be combined alone or with other sheets to form laminar composites that are molded into objects and heated by VFM irradiation.

A fiber-reinforced polymer composition that comprises a polymer matrix; a thermally conductive filler distributed within the polymer matrix; and a plurality of long fibers distributed within the polymer matrix is provided. The long fibers comprise an electrically conductive material and have a length of about 7 millimeters or more. Further, the composition exhibits an in-plane thermal conductivity of about 1 W/m-K or more as determined in accordance with ASTM E 1461-13 and an electromagnetic shielding effectiveness of about 20 dB or more as determined at a frequency of 1 GHz in accordance with EM 2107A.

The present invention relates to filled polymeric materials including a polymer and a mass of metallic fibers distributed within the polymer, and to light weight composites which comprise at least a pair of metallic layers and a polymeric layer interposed between the pair of metallic layers, the polymeric layer containing the filled polymeric material. The composite materials of the present invention may be formed using conventional stamping equipment at ambient temperatures. Composite materials of the present invention may also be capable of being welded to other metal materials using a resistance welding process such as resistance spot welding. Preferred composite materials include one or any combination of the following features: metallic fibers that are ribbon fibers; a polymer selected from a polyolefin, a polyamide, or a combination thereof; or a metallic layer (e.g., one or both of the pair of metallic layers) having a surface facing the filled polymeric material that is untreated.

A method for preparing a sacrificial support material for use in printing a three-dimensional (3D) article includes providing a water-soluble thermoplastic polymer composite including a water-soluble thermoplastic polyethylene oxide graft polymer having a polyethylene oxide polymer backbone, and from about 0.05% to about 10% by weight of the polyethylene oxide polymer backbone of at least one polar vinyl monomer grafted to the polyethylene oxide polymer backbone. One or more nanoscopic particulate processing aids may be uniformly dispersed in the graft polymer in an amount of from about 0.05% to about 10% by weight of the water-soluble thermoplastic polymer composite. The water-soluble thermoplastic polymer composite may have a viscosity in the range of about 100 to about 10,000 Pa-sec. The method may also include forming the water-soluble thermoplastic polymer composite into the 3D printable sacrificial support material.

A polymer composite wireline cable comprising: a polymeric matrix material; at least one reinforced fiber embedded in the polymeric matrix material; and at least one optical fiber disposed in the polymeric matrix material, the at least one optical fiber having at least one pair of Bragg grating sensors, wherein one of the pair of Bragg grating sensors is configured to experience loading strain and the other of the pair of Bragg grating sensors is configured not to experience loading strain.

A process for the manufacture of a degradable polycyanurate bulk molding composition includes: contacting a liquid cyanate ester monomer with an additive material and a polymerization catalyst to form a reaction mixture; maintaining a temperature of the reaction mixture at about 80° C. to about 100° C. to form a polycyanurate product having a viscosity of about 120 to about 200 centipoise at 23° C.; heating a reinforcing filler at a temperature of about 50 to about 150° C. to form a pre-heated reinforcing filler; and blending the polycyanurate product with the pre-heated reinforcing filler to form the degradable polycyanurate bulk molding composition. The bulk molding composition can be used to form a degradable polycyanurate article.

Disclosed herein are methods for manufacturing a functionally graded polymer material. The methods comprise preparing a melted polymer mixture comprising a thermoplastic polymer and a magnetic filler dispersed in the thermoplastic polymer, molding the melted polymer mixture and applying a magnetic field to a portion of the melted polymer mixture to form a functionally graded polymer material. The resulting functionally graded polymer material has a magnetic filler gradient formed through a thickness of the material.