METHOD OF INCREASING LOFT IN A POROUS FIBER REINFORCED THERMOPLASTIC SHEET

摘要

A method for increasing loft in a porous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic sheet is provided to realize an increased thickness and loft or elongation as compared to a known thermoplastic sheet having the same loading amount of reinforcing fibers. A method for fabricating a porous fiber-reinforced thermoplastic sheet having increased lofting characteristics comprises the steps of: adding reinforcing fibers(20) having an average length of about 5-75 mm and thermoplastic resin powder particles(22) to agitated aqueous foam to provide a dispersed mixture; disposing the dispersed mixture at the lower part of a support structure; discharging water to form a web; generating z-axis orientation in at least a part of the reinforcing fibers; heating the web to a temperature higher than the glass transition temperature of the thermoplastic resin; and compressing the web to a predetermined thickness to obtain a porous thermoplastic composite sheet having a pore content of about 1-95%.