A fiber-reinforced article and a method for producing the same

摘要

A fiber-reinforced article comprises an expanded core layer (2) having opposing first (101) and second (102) surfaces with a thickness defined therebetween, the expanded core layer being formed from a composition comprising a thermoplastic material (4) and fibers (3) with average length of not less than about 1 mm, with at least a portion of the fibers being coated with the thermoplastic material, the fibers collectively defining a network structure in which the fibers are interconnected with each other and fixed relative to each other via the thermoplastic material so that the coated fibers define interstitial voids (5) therebetween; and first and second skin layers, the first skin layer (101) having a surface integrally connected to the first surface of the expanded core layer (2) and the second skin layer (102) having a surface integrally connected to the second surface of the expanded core layer (2), each of the two skin layers being formed from a composition comprising a thermoplastic material and fibers with average length of not less than about 1 mm and the fiber-reinforced article has an average expansion ratio of from about 1.5 to about 3.5.