Method for non-contact homogeneous mixing of fibers feedstock for a carding process
AssigneeUniversity of Tennessee Research Foundation
InventorsVinit Dilipbhai Chaudhary, Uday Kumar Vaidya, Pritesh Sudhakar Yeole
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Abstract
An improved method of preparing a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic nonwoven web using recycled carbon fibers employs resonant acoustic mixing to combine the recycled carbon fibers with the thermoplastic fibers, followed by carding of the fiber mixture to form the carbon-fiber reinforced nonwoven web. The method provides a low-cost way to make carbon-fiber reinforced nonwoven webs that have sufficient mechanical properties to enable widespread use in the automotive industry and other high-volume industries.
Claims21
A method of making a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic nonwoven web, comprising the steps of:
- providing a quantity of recycled carbon fibers;
- providing a quantity of thermoplastic fibers;
- mixing the recycled carbon fibers with the thermoplastic fibers using resonant acoustic mixing to provide a nonwoven fiber mixture;
- and
- carding the nonwoven fiber mixture to yield the carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic nonwoven web.
A method of making a carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene nonwoven web, comprising the steps of:
- providing a quantity of recycled carbon fibers;
- providing a quantity of polypropylene fibers;
- mixing the recycled carbon fibers with the polypropylene fibers using resonant acoustic mixing to provide a nonwoven fiber mixture;
- and
- carding the nonwoven fiber mixture to yield the carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene nonwoven web.
A method of making a carbon fiber-reinforced thermoplastic nonwoven web, comprising the steps of:
- providing about 20% to about 40% by weight of recycled carbon fibers;
- providing about 60% to about 80% by weight of thermoplastic fibers;
- mixing the recycled carbon fibers with the thermoplastic fibers using resonant acoustic mixing for a time period from about 1 minute to about 5 minutes, about 75 grams force to about 100 grams force, and a frequency of about 55 Hz to about 65 Hz, to provide a nonwoven fiber mixture;
- and
- carding the nonwoven fiber mixture to yield the carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic nonwoven web.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.