Granted Patent B2

US 11,312,118 · App. 17/038,404 · Granted Apr 26, 2022

Inventors: Nicholas Peter Hunt (Laleham, GB); Michael Scott Carroll (Mooresville, NC); Daniel I Guerrero Barberena (Charlotte, NC); Ralph A. Moody, III (Mooresville, NC)

Assignee: AVINTIV Specialty Materials Inc.

B32B27/20B29C70/12B32B5/06B32B27/36B32B37/06D01G13/00D04H1/4242D04H1/435D04H1/46D04H1/70D04H1/74D04H13/001B29K2307/04B29K2667/00B32B2313/04

Abstract

Claims (26)

1. A process for forming a fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite, comprising:

opening a plurality of carbon fibers and a plurality of polymeric staple fibers, said plurality of carbon fibers having an average fiber length from about 50 mm to about 125 mm;

blending the plurality of carbon fibers with the plurality of polymeric staple fibers to form a fiber blend;

carding the fiber blend to form a one or more homogenous webs;

forming a fiber-reinforced nonwoven from the one or more homogenous webs; and

molding the fiber-reinforced nonwoven to form a fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite, wherein the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite comprises a theoretical void volume from about 0% to about 10% and a composite density from about 3 g/cm 3 to about 5 g/cm 3 .

2. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising:

layering at least a first homogenous web from the one or more homogenous webs upon itself in a machine direction to form a parallel-laid batt; and

fixing the parallel-laid batt to form the fiber-reinforced nonwoven.

3. The process according to claim 2 , wherein fixing the parallel-laid batt comprises at least one of needle punching or thermal processing.

4. The process according to claim 2 , wherein needle punching comprises utilizing a needle penetration depth from about 10 mm to about 75 mm, a punch density from about 50 punches/cm 2 to about 100 punches/cm 2 , or both.

5. The process according to claim 2 , wherein thermal processing comprises thermal point bonding.

6. The process according to claim 1 , wherein molding the fiber-reinforced nonwoven to form the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite comprises a molding temperature from about 200° C. to about 300° C.

7. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon fibers comprise from about 10% to about 90% by weight of the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite.

8. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the carbon fibers comprise from about 40% to about 60% by weight of the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite.

9. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the polymeric staple fibers comprise from about 10% to about 90% by weight of the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite.

10. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the polymeric staple fibers comprise from about 40% to about 60% by weight of the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite.

11. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of carbon fibers comprise a linear mass density from about 0.1 dtex to about 1.0 dtex.

12. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymeric staple fibers comprise at least one of a polyester, a polycarbonate, a co-polyester, a polyamide, a polyphenylene sulfone, an engineering polymer, or any combination thereof.

13. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymeric staple fibers comprise an average length from about 1 mm to about 100 mm.

14. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymeric staple fibers comprise a linear mass density from about 1.0 dtex to about 3.0 dtex.

15. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite comprises a basis weight from about 500 gsm to about 5000 gsm.

16. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite comprises an average thickness from about 1 mm to about 3 mm.

17. The process according to claim 1 , further comprising aligning a first group of carbon fibers in a first direction in a first plane and aligning a second group of carbon fibers in a second direction in a second plane, and wherein the second direction is located from 20° to 90° relative to the first direction.

18. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite has a flexural strength from about 290 MPa to about 465 MPa.

19. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the plurality of polymeric staple fibers comprises a polyethylene terephthalate accounting for about 30% to about 70% by weight of the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite, and the carbon fibers comprise from about 30% to about 70% by weight of the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite; wherein the fiber-reinforced nonwoven composite comprises an average thickness from about 1 mm to about 3 mm and has a basis weight from about 2000 gsm to about 5000 gsm.

Assignments (33)