Liquid permeable body
The purpose of the present invention is to provide a liquid permeable body comprising a porous composite that has different liquid permeabilities between in the in-plane direction and in the out-of-plane direction as well as excellent mechanical properties. The liquid permeable body comprises a porous composite having a structure in which discontinuous reinforcing fibers are dispersed; the dispersed discontinuous reinforcing fibers are bonded with a thermoplastic resin at at least an intersection thereof; voids of continuous openings form a void content of from 30 to 90%; an average value α of fiber orientation angles is from 0 to 40° in an in-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers; and an average value β of fiber orientation angles is from 0 to 25° in an out-of-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers.
1 . A liquid permeable body comprising
a porous composite having a structure in which
discontinuous reinforcing fibers are dispersed;
the dispersed discontinuous reinforcing fibers are bonded to each other with a thermoplastic resin at at least an intersection of the reinforcing fibers;
voids of continuous openings form a void content of from 30 to 90%;
an average value α of fiber orientation angles is from 22 to 40° in an in-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers;
an average value β of fiber orientation angles is from 0 to 25° in an out-of-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers; and
a ratio α/β of the average value α to the average value β is from 1.1 to 5.0; wherein
a liquid-permeation anisotropic value of the liquid permeable body in the in-plane direction with respect to the out-of-plane direction (in-plane liquid-permeation speed/out-of-plane liquid-permeation speed) is from 2.0 to 12.0; and
a liquid-permeation anisotropic value of the liquid permeable body in the in-plane direction is from 1.3 to 8.0.
2 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin has a glass transition temperature of equal to or higher than 100° C.
3 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the thermoplastic resin is at least one thermoplastic resin selected from the group consisting of polyetherimide-based resins, semi-aromatic polyamide-based resins, polyether ether ketone-based resins, and polycarbonate-based resins.
4 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the discontinuous reinforcing fibers have an average fiber length of from 3 to 50 mm.
5 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein a weight proportion (proportion by weight) of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers in the porous composite is from 15 to 80%.
6 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the liquid permeable body has a bending strength of equal to or greater than 30 MPa and a bending elastic modulus of equal to or greater than 3.0 GPa.
7 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein at least one of the average values α and β is not 0.
8 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the average value α of fiber orientation angles is from 22 to 38° in an in-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers.
9 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the average value α of fiber orientation angles is from 22 to 36° in an in-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers.
10 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the average value β of fiber orientation angles is from 10 to 25° in an out-of-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers.
11 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the average value β of fiber orientation angles is from 0 to 20° in an out-of-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers.
12 . The liquid permeable body according to claim 1 , wherein the average value β of fiber orientation angles is from 0 to 15° in an out-of-plane direction of the discontinuous reinforcing fibers.