(1) Melt Impregnation Process: Once the continuous carbon fiber is mounted on the creel, guide rollers adjust its tension to ensure uniform stress as it feeds into the filament system. Here, the unfolding roller fully spreads the carbon fiber, which is then preheated before entering the impregnation zone. Under high – temperature and high – pressure conditions, the molten thermoplastic resin infiltrates the carbon fiber. After shaping and pulling through rollers, a continuous carbon fiber – reinforced thermoplastic prepreg is obtained.
(2) Solution Impregnation Process: Begin by dissolving the resin matrix in a suitable solvent to create a solution. Use this solution to saturate the carbon fiber tow. Subsequently, evaporate the solvent via drying and consolidate the material to produce the prepreg. However, this method has limitations, as not all thermoplastic matrices can be dissolved in organic solvents.
(3) Powder Fluidized Impregnation Process: First, widen and thin the carbon fiber tow. Then, pass it through an electrostatic fluidized bed containing 10μm – sized resin powder to evenly coat the fiber surface with resin. After oven heating and hot – press roller calendering, the resin fully impregnates the fiber, yielding a thermoplastic sheet.
(4) Powder Suspension Impregnation Process: Initially, disperse the resin powder in a suspension. Immerse the carbon fiber tow in this suspension to ensure thorough resin impregnation. Then, dry the tow in an oven to melt the resin. Finally, pass it through a hot – press roller for pressing and cooling to form a prepreg tape.
(5) Blending Process: In the fiber blending approach, process the resin into a spinnable form. Combine the resin fibers with carbon fibers and weave them together into a fabric.
