THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE PREPREG FOR AUTOMATED FIBER PLACEMENT

摘要

An improved thermoplastic composite prepreg tape is disclosed. The prepreg tape is optimized for high-speed, high quality in-situ consolidation during automated fiber placement. Embodiments of the prepreg tape have uniform dimensions (cross section, width, and thickness), uniform energy absorption, uniform surface roughness, and sufficient resin at the surface to affect a bond between layers. A scattering agent is used in a polymer surface layer to enable a combination of scattering and absorption in the polymer surface layer.

主权项

1. A multilayered composite material suitable to be bonded by a laser, comprising:
a prepreg fiber tape comprising fibers held together with a thermoplastic polymer matrix; a polymer surface layer disposed on the prepreg fiber tape; and a scattering agent disposed within the polymer surface layer, wherein the scattering agent comprises a plurality of discrete particles that are substantially uniformly distributed throughout the polymer surface layer, and wherein the polymer surface layer and the thermoplastic polymer matrix are comprised of an identical polymer.