Improving the joint strength of thermoplastic composites joined by press joining using laser-based surface treatment

Research output: Preprint/Documentation/ReportPreprint

Contributors

Abstract

Fibre-reinforced thermoplastic composites (TPC) provide an automated and cost-effective solution for their use in lightweight structures in series production. The combination of different material configurations allows the design of highly stress tolerant components. Previous studies demonstrated that the combination of TPC sheets, TPC hollow profiles and injection moulding compounds is even suitable for crash-relevant automotive parts. All three components are combined during the injection moulding process. To prevent collapse, the part must remain in a consolidated state and cannot be preheated.However, this results in poor adhesion between the hollow profile, the bulk material, and the TPC sheet.Previous studies have shown that the bonding strength between the hollow profile and the injection moulding compound can be increased by surface pre-treatment using laser structuring and plasma technology. In this work, laser structuring is employed to enhance the bonding strength between the hollow profile and the TPC sheet. Microscopy analysis is used to investigate the resulting surface morphology. Subsequently, single-lap-shear (SLS) specimens are produced by pressing the TPC sheets onto the flat part. The resulting bonding strengths are then evaluated by tensile shear tests. The study analyses the impact of various pre-treatment parameters on the bonding strength. Furthermore, it investigates the effect of sheet temperature on the bonding strength, including specimens without pre-treatment. Finally, the results of the surface treatment of hollow composite profiles are discussed.

Details

Original languageEnglish
PublisherElsevier Science B.V.
Number of pages12
Publication statusPublished - 19 Aug 2024
No renderer: customAssociatesEventsRenderPortal,dk.atira.pure.api.shared.model.researchoutput.WorkingPaper

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0003-1370-064X/work/168205894
ORCID /0000-0003-2834-8933/work/168206991
Scopus 85202282929

Keywords

Keywords

  • Thermoplastic composite, laser treatment, compression moulding, Thermoplastic composite, laser treatment, compression moulding