THE LAMINATE-BENDING PROCESS FOR LONG FIBER-REINFORCED PLASTICS

In order to form long fiber-reinforced plastic sheets into angled parts, a new process called the Laminate-Bending Process was recently developed. The process consists of preforming a prepreg into semi-cured stable shapes having various sharp bending radii, followed by laminating the preforms into a fully cured thick angle product having high strength and rigidity. A sharp 90-degrees V-angled product of five lay-ups of preform was test fabricated under various preforming and laminating conditions by using a continuous glass fiber reinforced epoxy resin, and it was confirmed to be excellent in delamination resistance and specific strength. Also, the process is quite practical in productivity, handling, and applicability to other advanced composite materials, and it can expand the use of such brittle materials for wider applications.