Imperial Chemical Industries Limited

Umakant Measuria

Frederic N Cogswell

A process for impregnating a fibrous product, said fibrous product being a fabric woven from reinforcing fibres or a fabric of randomly disposed fibres, with a matrix polymer comprising causing partial impregnation of the fibrous structure by introducing the fibrous structure into a molten composition comprising the matrix polymer and a melt plasticizer for the matrix polymer and subsequently causing substantially complete wetting of the filaments of the fibrous structure by volatilizing the melt plasticizer from the partially impregnated structure at a temperature at which the polymer is molten, the melt plasticizer being thermally stable at the temperature of the melt and having volatility characteristics such that the plasticizer can be removed below the decomposition temperature of the melt but sufficiently involatile at the temperature of the melt to permit the viscosity of the melt to be reduced by comparison with the melt viscosity of the polymer at the same temperature. When a woven fabric is employed thermoformable composites can be obtained having short beam shear strength values at least 0.7 times the tensile strength of the plastics matrix material of the composite.

Reinforced fibre products and process of making

A reinforced composite structure comprising parallel, aligned continuous filaments extending along the maximum dimension of the structure, said fibres being bonded together with a thermoplastic matrix polymer which intimately contacts substantially the whole of the surface of the filaments characterized in that the reinforcement of the structure comprises at least 30% by volume of filamentary reinforcing material and from 1% up to 30% by volume, preferably from 5 to 15% by volume of particulate filler. The preferred process for producing the product use a mixture of polymer, filler and melt plasticizer for the polymer to effect impregnation of the continuous fibres with the melt plasticizer subsequently being volatilized at a temperature at which the polymer is molten.

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Great Ayton, United Kingdom

Umakant Measuria