METHOD OF MAKING LONG FIBER-REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITES UTILIZING HYBRID OR COMMINGLED YARN

摘要

A method of making a long fiber reinforced thermoplastic composite includes supplying a hybrid yarn or commingled yarn (142, 146) to a lobed die (134, 136), the yarn including both thermoplastic fibers and reinforcing fibers in intimate contact wherein the yarn is from about 10 to about 90 weight percent thermoplastic fiber and from about 90 to about 10 weight percent reinforcing fiber. The die is configured to define a tortuous conduit along the production direction and maintained at a temperature operative to melt the thermoplastic fiber of the yarn supplied thereto so that from the beginning of melting of the thermoplastic fiber the wet out of the reinforcing fiber starts and the thermoplastic matrix produced from the melted fibers substantially fully impregnates the reinforcing fibers. The process thus combining different consolidating steps - heating, impregnating, shaping and coating - within the one step of passing the hybrid or commingled yarn through the lobed pultrusion die.