An acoustical and thermally absorbent chopped strand mat formed of
thermoplastic bonding materials and bundles of reinforcing fibers is
provided. The reinforcing fibers are preferably wet use chopped strand
glass fibers (WUCS). The thermoplastic bonding materials may be any
thermoplastic or thermosetting material having a melting point less than
the reinforcing fiber. The chopped strand mat may be formed by partially
opening the WUCS fibers and filamentizing the thermoplastic bonding
materials, blending the reinforcement and thermoplastic bonding fibers,
forming the reinforcement and thermoplastic bonding fibers into a sheet,
and bonding the sheet. During bonding, the sheet is heated to a
temperature above the melting point of the thermoplastic bonding fibers
but below the temperature of the glass fibers. The melted thermoplastic
bonding fibers act as a glue to hold the glass fibers in bundles. The
chopped strand mat thus formed may be used as a reinforcement material in
automotive applications.