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New approach to joining dissimilar materials

A novel process for joining dissimilar materials is available at TWI. Called the Polymer Coated Material (PCM) welding technique, materials already joined include:

  • carbon fibre thermoplastic composite to aluminium alloy;
  • carbon fibre thermoplastic composite to alumina ceramic;
  • aluminium alloy to alumina ceramic.

The PCM technique involves surface pretreatment of one component with a thermoplastic coating. A conventional plastics welding technique can then be applied to join the plastic coated component to either a thermoplastic component or to a second coated component.

The process is simple in application and does not involve any curing time. Lap shear strengths for the joints also compare very favourably with those achieved using adhesives.

For information about TWI’s capabilities please email contactus@twi.co.uk.

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