Impregnation section with tension adjustment device and method for impregnating fiber rovings

A method of producing fiber-reinforced thermoplastic resin structures having a high fiber content, comprising:

• providing an impregnation die having a channel that applies pressurized molten resin to an elongated roving of fibers drawn through the channel, the die having an upstream side including an opening that receives the elongated roving of fibers, and a downstream side having an opening that a resin-impregnated roving is drawn from;
• providing a die faceplate facing the downstream side of said die, the faceplate having at least one opening that the resin-impregnated roving is drawn through that removes excess resin and pultrudes the resin-impregnated roving into a desired shape;
• spacing apart the faceplate from the downstream side of the die to provide a gap between the die and an upstream side of the faceplate that allows excess resin removed from the resin-impregnated roving to freely backflow from said sizing hole without pressure build up;
• simultaneously drawing an elongated roving of fibers through the channel while impregnating the roving with pressurized molten resin, wherein a cross-sectional area of the roving is at least 50% of a smallest cross-sectional area of the opening such that the resulting fiber-reinforced structure has a fiber volume greater than 50%.

A tape comprising a polymer resin and a plurality of fibers embedded in the polymer resin to form a fiber reinforced polymer material, wherein the fibers are disposed in the fiber reinforced polymer material to form a first resin rich portion, a second resin rich portion, and a fiber rich portion disposed between the first resin rich portion and the second resin rich portion, the tape formed by a process comprising:

• flowing a polymer resin through a manifold assembly of a die, the manifold assembly comprising a plurality of branched runners;
• coating at least one fiber roving with the resin;
• traversing the coated roving through an impregnation zone of the die to impregnate the roving with the resin;
• and
• drawing the impregnated roving through a faceplate spaced apart from a downstream side of the die.