METHOD OF PRODUCING FIBRE REINFORCED COMPOSITION

摘要

A process of producing a fibre-reinforced composition comprising drawing a plurality of continuous filaments through a melt comprising a mixture of a thermoplastic polymer and a plasticiser for the polymer in the weight ratio between 1:4 and 99:1 of polymer to plasticiser, preferably in the weight ratio 1:1 to 19:1, the plasticiser being thermally stable at least up to the temperature of the melt and having volatility characteristics such that the plasticiser is not substantially volatilised from the composition below the melt temperature of the thermoplastic polymer but has a sufficiently low volatility at the temperature of the melt to plasticise the polymer in the melt and give a melt of reduced viscosity compared with the melt viscosity of the polymer alone. The process enables improved fibre wetting and/or easier processing to be achieved in comparison with a process in which no plasticiser is used. Higher molecular weight polymer may also be used than when plasticiser is absent.