A prepreg, a method of testing thereof and a process for its manufacture

Abstract

A prepreg comprising a structural layer comprising fibres having interstices therebetween, and comprising curable thermosetting resin impregnated within the structural layer and present within the interstices, wherein the prepreg comprises a test region that is free of curable thermosetting resin; a method of testing the pregreg, wherein the method comprises the steps of a) carrying out a measurement test on a test area of the test region, followed by b) inferring a property of the prepreg from the results of the measurement; and a process for the manufacture of the prepreg, the process comprising the steps of: providing a structural layer comprising fibres, having a first face and a second face, and a first impregnating layer comprising curable thermosetting resin; bringing the first face of the structural layer into contact with the first impregnating layer; compressing the structural layer and first impregnation layer together so that curable resin impregnates the fibrous layer so that it is present between the interstices between the fibres, thereby forming the prepreg; wherein the first impregnating layer comprises a region where no impregnation occurs, thereby producing the test region of the prepreg that is free of curable resin.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.