Abstract:
A composite material includes a core and a shell that covers the core. The core has a volume that includes a first material and a void wherein the first material occupies less than 50% of the core's volume and has a three-dimensional shape that includes a plurality of components each having the same shape and arranged to form a series of repeating components within the volume. The shell includes a second material joined to the first material. Each of the first and second materials includes a thickness having a middle region and a outer region, and at least one of the first and second materials, includes a microstructure.
Abstract:
A method for infusing gas into a thermoplastic material includes positioning a sheet of a thermoplastic material into a vertical or substantially vertical position; positioning a sheet of a gas-permeable material into a vertical or substantially vertical position; and winding together the positioned sheet of thermoplastic material sheet and the positioned sheet of gas-permeable material to form a roll of the thermoplastic material interleaved with the gas-permeable material, the interleaved roll having a longitudinal axis oriented in a vertical or substantially vertical position. The method also includes exposing the interleaved roll to an atmosphere of a gas pressurized to infuse the thermoplastic material with the gas, while the longitudinal axis of the interleaved roll is oriented in a vertical or substantially vertical position; and then unwinding the gas-infused interleaved roll, while the longitudinal axis of the interleaved roll remains in a vertical or substantially vertical position.
Abstract:
A thermoplastic material having a thickness includes a polymer having a microstructure that includes a plurality of closed cells disposed in an inner region of the material's thickness. Each of the plurality of closed cells contains a void and each of the cells has a maximum dimension extending across the void within the cell that ranges between 1 micrometer and 500 micrometers long. The thermoplastic material also includes a substantially solid skin disposed in an outer region of the material's thickness. The skin includes a surface having a surface energy and a texture that increases the surface energy to more than 38 dynes per square centimeter.