Staking of polymer-metal hybrid structures

This chapter introduces a new approach to manufacture future damage-tolerant and crash-resistant lightweight alloys to fiber-reinforced polymers (LM-FRP) hybrid structures. However, joining of LM-FRP is complicated due to their physical-chemical dissimilarity resulting in lower mutual miscibility. The chapter describes the metal injection molding (MIMStruct) manufacturing route and principles of the joining process, as well as its potential applications. A case study on MIM-structured Ti-6Al-4V parts joined to glass-fiber-reinforced polyetherimide (GF-PEI) was used to demonstrate the ultrasonic joining (U-Joining) feasibility. Selected results on temperature measurement, microstructural features, and mechanical performance of the hybrid joints are presented. Advantages and limitations of this new joining technology are briefly discussed. The main advantages of the U-Joining are precise control of the heat generation, the joining is clean, safe, and faster in comparison to the state-of-the-art technologies. Regarding limitations, U-Joining is suitable only for overlapped configuration and is not directly applicable to thermoset- based composites.