Patent ID: 6911169

Claim:
A method of making a composite article, the method comprising the steps of: shear mixing a mixture comprising a liquid polymeric material, graphitized carbon fibers having diameters of less than one micrometer, and glass fibers longer than the carbon fibers, the carbon fibers constituting up to about 25 volume percent of the mixture, the glass fibers constituting up to about 50 weight percent of the mixture; flowing the mixture into a mold so that the glass fibers are substantially oriented parallel to the direction of flow, the carbon fibers being substantially aligned with the glass fibers and preferentially segregating to regions of the polymeric material near interfaces between the polymeric material and the glass fibers in part as a result of the glass fibers being larger than the carbon fibers; and forming the composite article in the mold, the composite article having an electrical resistivity of not greater than 10 6 Ohm×cm in the direction of flow.