Manufacturing thermoplastic composites and articles

A method of making a composite article, the method comprising:

• melting a low-viscosity reactive resin to form a molten reactive resin in an extruder;
• fully impregnating a plurality of continuous fibers with the molten reactive resin in an impregnation device;
• polymerizing the molten reactive resin to form a thermoplastic composite strand, wherein polymerizing the molten reactive resin to form the thermoplastic composite strand comprises polymerizing the molten reactive resin in a polymerization device;
• and
• chopping the thermoplastic composite strand into a plurality of pellets to form a plurality of thermoplastic composite concentrates, wherein the plurality of thermoplastic composite concentrates comprises fibers fully impregnated with a first thermoplastic resin;
• mixing the plurality of thermoplastic composite concentrates with a second thermoplastic resin to form a mixture;
• and
• forming the composite article from the mixture.

A system for making a thermoplastic composite strand, the system comprising:

• a melting device positioned to receive a low-viscosity reactive resin, wherein the melting device is operable to maintain a temperature equal to or greater than a polymerization temperature of the low-viscosity reactive resin;
• an impregnation device, wherein the impregnation device is:
• positioned to receive a molten reactive resin from the melting device;
• and
• operable to combine a plurality of continuous fibers with the molten reactive resin;
• and
• a polymerization device, wherein the polymerization device is:
• positioned to receive the plurality of continuous fibers impregnated with the molten reactive resin from the impregnation device;
• and
• operable to polymerize the molten reactive resin to form the thermoplastic composite strand.