TRACERS FOR USE IN COMPRESSION MOLDING OF UNIDIRECTIONAL DISCONTINUOUS FIBER COMPOSITE MOLDING COMPOUND

摘要

The present invention relates to tracking or tracing both the overall and local movements of unidirectional discontinuous fiber composite (UD-DFC) chips during the compression molding of a UD-DFC molding compound. Tracking capability is provided by including tracer chips within the UD-DFC molding compound. The tracer chips comprise a resin matrix and at least one unidirectional carbon tow comprising a plurality of carbon filaments. The tracer chip further includes a unidirectional tracer seal that is comprised of a plurality of monofilament filaments detectable by x-ray or other radiation-based scanning techniques.