Process & Joining Techology for Multi-Material Systems

 

The potential of fibre-reinforced plastics in terms of cost and performance will be reached by combining them with other materials. Combinations of GFRP/CFRP, metals, short, long and endless fibre-reinforced plastics as well as foams and honeycomb structures are the main focus of recent research and development. The production of these hybrid material systems requires a special know-how in terms of joining technology, such as bonding, riveting, plastic welding.

Modern processes of force and heat integration – for instance robotics, laser technology or modern moulding processes for intrinsic joining of different materials – prospect innovative product designs, new processes as well as development of existing techniques.

These technologies are developed at various institutes within the Aachen science area and can be applied and tested in process chains at the AZL. The AZL implements a holistic view: The joining technologies will be investigated on the up- and downstream processes of the process chain and are not isolated considered.