Shikibo Ltd.

Hideki Sakonjo

Koichi Hashimoto

Tetsuro Hirokawa

Masayasu Ishibashi

Takeshi Tanamura

Kazunori Morimoto

Akira Iriguchi

A novel process for producing a dry preform for a composite material takes advantage of the fact that a reinforcing filament assembly, when consisting of a fiber reinforcement layer a, formed by stringing a first set of parallel strands of fiber reinforcement over a part or all of the plane within any desired shape along the straight axis, and a fiber reinforcement layer b, formed by stringing a second set of parallel strands of fiber reinforcement over the plane at an angle &#x3b8; with respect to the straight axis, such that 0&#xb0;&#x3c;&#x3b8;&#x3c;180&#xb0;, the part of the reinforcing filament assembly that consists solely of the fiber reinforcement b can be deformed as desired. According to this process, strands c of fiber reinforcement are strung using a fiber reinforcement string jig as shown in FIGS.(A) and(B). The layers of the strung strands of fiber reinforcement are brought together by a simple means such as stitching. The integrated layer is then shaped into the reinforcing filament assemblies, which are combined to form a dry preformfor making a composite material having any desired alignment of fiber reinforcement.

Method for producing dry preform for composite material

A preform for a fiber-reinforced composite material including a bent portion along a curved line for bending, a flange portion corresponding to an outer circumferential portion, and a semi-cylindrical portion formed by bending an inner circumferential portion along the curved line for bending located in a flat plane or a curved plane region. The preform is formed from a precursor having a predetermined extension. The outer circumferential portion corresponds to a first region where a first plurality of reinforced fibers is partially disposed in parallel along the curved line for bending. The inner circumferential portion corresponds to a second region constituted solely of a second plurality of reinforced fibers disposed throughout the entire area, so as to intersect the first plurality of reinforced fibers at a predetermined angle in the first region.

Preform precursor for fiber-reinforced composite material, preform for fiber-reinforced composite material, and method of manufacturing the precursor and the preform

A unidirectional three dimensional fiber structure is provided which does not require weaving, displays a high level of interlayer strength and does not suffer from cracking, and which can also be easily produced with any arbitrary cross-section. A unidirectional three dimensional fiber structure is produced by inserting a plurality of long fibers which have been aligned unidirectionally into an inlet at one end of a cylindrical die with a plurality of needle holes in the peripheral walls thereof, and then performing needlepunch through the needle holes while drawing the plurality of long fibers out from an outlet at the opposite end of the cylindrical die.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Hideki Sakonjo