Abstract: A process of forming the fiber preform includes providing a substrate, applying a first layer of a fiber bundle to the substrate in a predetermined pattern having a principal orientation, stitching the first layer of the fiber bundle to the substrate using a thread, building up subsequent layers of the fiber bundle from the first layer, and stitching each of the subsequent layers to a preceding layer using the thread. A process of forming a unitary reinforced composite material includes the fiber preform. The process of forming a unitary reinforced composite component includes placing the fiber preform a mold platen, heating the perform to promote fusion of the thermoplastic fibers therein, cooling the perform until solidified with contours of the component, and removing the vehicle component from the mold platen.

Abstract: A vehicle component that includes at least one fiber preform. The fiber preform includes a substrate, a fiber bundle having one or more types of reinforcing fibers, and a thread. The fiber bundle is arranged on the substrate and attached to the substrate by a plurality of stitches of the thread to form a first preform layer having a principal orientation. The vehicle component includes a core having a geometry with at least one edge and at least one the fiber preforms positioned along the at least one edge, the core and the fiber preform being overmolded in a resin. A process of making the vehicle component includes providing the core having the at least one edge, positioning the at least one fiber preform along the at least one edge, and overmolding the core and the at least one fiber preform in the resin.

Abstract: A unitary reinforced composite based panel component, and methods of construction thereof is provided. The unitary reinforced panel component eliminates the need for adhesively joining an offset piece to the backside of a panel, to provide additional reinforcing strength thereby improving efficiency and eliminating bond-line read-through (BLRT). A vehicle component is prepared with resort to a preform made of selective comingled fiber bundle positioning (SCFBP) to selectively place co-mingled fibers that are enriched in carbon fiber as a reinforcement relative to other region that rely on a relatively higher percentage of glass fiber reinforcement to create such a preform.

Abstract: A process of forming the fiber preform includes providing a substrate, applying a first layer of a fiber bundle to the substrate in a predetermined pattern having a principal orientation, stitching the first layer of the fiber bundle to the substrate using a thread, building up subsequent layers of the fiber bundle from the first layer, and stitching each of the subsequent layers to a preceding layer using the thread. A process of forming a unitary reinforced composite material includes the fiber preform. The process of forming a unitary reinforced composite component includes placing the fiber preform a mold platen, heating the perform to promote fusion of the thermoplastic fibers therein, cooling the perform until solidified with contours of the component, and removing the vehicle component from the mold platen.