Carbon Fiber Composites: Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers

Manufacturing of thermoplastic composites requires special technologies due to high viscosity and melting temperature. The general process chain for continuous fiber-reinforced polymer composites is based on fully impregnated and consolidated sheet materials. These sheets are heated above the melting temperature of the thermoplastic matrix and stamp formed. Another established technology for fiber-reinforced thermoplastics is the placement of unidirectional tapes. A major advantage of thermoplastic composites is the possibility to connect parts by welding and to combine different processes like thermoforming and injection molding, which gives excellent mechanical properties in combination with function integration and net-shaped molded parts.