Fiber-containing prepregs and methods and systems of making

Abstract

Methods of making a fiber-containing prepregs may include drawing unsized fibers from a batch of molten glass. The method may also include applying a sizing composition to the unsized fibers to form a plurality of sized fibers, where the sizing composition includes a first polymerization agent for polymerizing caprolactam. The method may further include weaving the plurality of sized fibers into a fabric. Another step may include melting a reactive resin composition to form a melted reactive resin composition, where the reactive resin composition may include caprolactam. The melted reactive resin composition may be applied to the fabric. The method may further include heating the fabric and the melted reactive resin composition to a polymerization temperature, where the caprolactam polymerizes to form a fiber-resin amalgam including a polyamide. Another step may be to form the fiber-resin amalgam into the fiber-containing prepreg.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A fiber-containing prepreg comprising:
 a first plurality of fibers;   a second plurality of fibers made of a different material than the first plurality of fibers; and   a polymerized resin formed from a reactive resin composition.   
     
     
         2 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are reactive fibers with a reactive agent present on the surface of the fibers. 
     
     
         3 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are formed into a fiber mat. 
     
     
         4 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are formed into one or more layers of fiber mat. 
     
     
         5 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of fibers are formed into a first fiber mat and the second plurality of fibers are formed into a second fiber mat. 
     
     
         6 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 5 , wherein the prepreg comprises a stack of layers of the first fiber mat and the second fiber mat on top of each other. 
     
     
         7 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         8 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the second plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         9 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises glass fibers and the second plurality of fibers comprises carbon fibers. 
     
     
         10 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the polymerized resin comprises a polyamide polymer or a polybutylene terephthalate polymer. 
     
     
         11 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the reactive resin composition comprises caprolactam. 
     
     
         12 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 1 , wherein the reactive resin composition comprises a cyclic butylene terephthalate. 
     
     
         13 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 2 , wherein the reactive agent comprises a coupler-initiator compound that includes (i) a coupling moiety to form a covalent bond with the at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers, and (ii) an initiator moiety that initiates a polymerization reaction of the reactive resin composition. 
     
     
         14 . The fiber-containing prepreg of  claim 2 , wherein the reactive agent comprises a polymerization catalyst. 
     
     
         15 . A fiber-reinforced composite article comprising:
 a fiber-containing prepreg comprising:
 (i) a first plurality of fibers; 
 (ii) a second plurality of fibers made from a different material than the first plurality of fibers; and 
 (iii) a second polymerized resin formed from a prepreg reactive resin composition. 
   
     
     
         16 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are reactive fibers with a reactive agent present on the surface of the fibers. 
     
     
         17 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are formed into a fiber mat. 
     
     
         18 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are formed into one or more layers of fiber mat. 
     
     
         19 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein the first plurality of fibers are formed into a first fiber mat and the second plurality of fibers are formed into a second fiber mat. 
     
     
         20 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 19 , wherein the prepreg comprises a stack of layers of the first fiber mat and the second fiber mat on top of each other. 
     
     
         21 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         22 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein the second plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         23 . The fiber-reinforced composite article of  claim 15 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises glass fibers and the second plurality of fibers comprises carbon fibers. 
     
     
         24 . A method of making a fiber-containing prepreg, the method comprising:
 forming a stack of fiber mats in contact with a reactive resin composition, wherein the stack of fiber mats comprises layers of a first fiber mat and a second fiber mat stacked on top of each other, and wherein the first fiber mat comprises a first plurality of fibers, and the second fiber mat comprises a second plurality of fibers made of a different material than the first plurality of fibers; and   curing the reactive resin composition in the stack of fiber mats to form the fiber-containing prepreg.   
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the second plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises glass fibers and the second plurality of fibers comprises carbon fibers. 
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are reactive fibers that have a reactive agent present on the surface of the fibers. 
     
     
         29 . The method of  claim 28 , wherein the reactive agent comprises a coupler-initiator compound that includes (i) a coupling moiety to form a covalent bond with the at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers, and (ii) an initiator moiety that initiates a polymerization reaction of the reactive resin composition. 
     
     
         30 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the reactive agent comprises a polymerization catalyst. 
     
     
         31 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the reactive resin composition comprises caprolactam. 
     
     
         32 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the reactive resin composition comprises a cyclic butylene terephthalate. 
     
     
         33 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the curing of the reactive resin composition in the stack of fiber mats comprises heating the reactive resin composition to a polymerization temperature for the resin. 
     
     
         34 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the curing of the reactive resin composition in the stack of fiber mats comprises pressing and heating the stack of fiber mats. 
     
     
         35 . A method of making a fiber-containing prepreg, the method comprising:
 forming one or more layers of fiber mat in contact with a reactive resin composition, wherein the one or more layers of fiber mat comprise a first plurality of fibers and a second plurality of fibers made of a different material than the first plurality of fibers; and   curing the reactive resin composition in the one or more layers of the fiber mat to form the fiber-containing prepreg.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the second plurality of fibers comprises fibers selected from glass fibers, inorganic fibers, carbon fibers, metal fibers, organic polymer fibers, and mineral fibers. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the first plurality of fibers comprises glass fibers and the second plurality of fibers comprises carbon fibers. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers are reactive fibers that have a reactive agent present on the surface of the fibers. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 39 , wherein the reactive agent comprises a coupler-initiator compound that includes (i) a coupling moiety to form a covalent bond with the at least one of the first plurality of fibers and the second plurality of fibers, and (ii) an initiator moiety that initiates a polymerization reaction of the reactive resin composition. 
     
     
         41 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the reactive agent comprises a polymerization catalyst. 
     
     
         42 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the reactive resin composition comprises caprolactam. 
     
     
         43 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the reactive resin composition comprises a cyclic butylene terephthalate. 
     
     
         44 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the curing of the reactive resin composition in the one or more layers of the fiber mat comprises heating the reactive resin composition to a polymerization temperature for the resin. 
     
     
         45 . The method of  claim 35 , wherein the curing of the reactive resin composition the one or more layers of the fiber mat comprises pressing and heating the one or more ayers of the fiber mat.