The potential advantage of thermoplastic matrix composites for manufacturing low-cost components has yet to be realized. An important factor limiting thermoplastic composites is the lack of a low-cost method for producing high-quality prepregs and preforms. A method for producing the materials that are compatible with commonly used composite fabrication techniques such as filament winding, pultrusion, and prepregging will be researched. The method uses the self-charging effect that occurs when the fiber tow is dragged through a powder bed. When optimized, this approach could make thermoplastic matrix composites competitive with current thermoset matrix composites.
