Thermal Joining of Metal and Thermoplastic Components
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for joining metal and thermoplastic components in structural lightweight construction are time-intensive, costly, and limited in flexibility, as they often require additional materials and have restrictions due to the different physical structures and thermal coefficients of expansion of these materials.
Innovation Solution
An apparatus with a pressing device and heating/cooling system, utilizing electrical resistance heating elements, laser beams, or inductors to achieve localized and controlled heating and cooling, allowing for direct thermal joining without additional materials, enabling rapid cycle times and flexible material combinations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If adhesive joining is used to connect metal parts with thermoplastics, then material continuity can be achieved, but the process becomes time-intensive and cost-intensive due to preparation time, additional material requirements, and hardening times
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the adhesive material from the joining process, using direct thermal welding instead. The thermoplastic component is heated to its melting point and pressed directly onto the metal surface, removing the need for separate adhesive application and hardening time, thus reducing production time while maintaining connection strength
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the temperature parameter by heating the thermoplastic component to its melting point during the joining process. This phase change enables direct material flow and bonding to the metal surface, eliminating the need for adhesive hardening time and reducing overall production time
2Reliability
If hot pressing is used to join metallic plates with thermoplastic sheets, then material continuity is achieved, but the process requires elevated temperatures and pressures that limit flexibility in component geometry and material choice
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies heating locally only to the joining region of the thermoplastic component using heating elements positioned at the contact surface with the metal. This localized heating allows precise control of the thermal process, enabling flexibility in component geometry while achieving material continuity at the joint without subjecting the entire component to elevated temperatures and pressures
3Reliability
If in-mold process is used to inject plastic directly onto metal, then direct thermal joining is achieved, but flexibility in component geometry and material choice is substantially limited due to injection molding machine constraints
Solution Approach 1:
The invention replaces the injection molding machine's mechanical injection system with a direct thermal welding system. Instead of injecting molten plastic through molds, the thermoplastic component is heated to its melting point and pressed directly onto the metal surface using a pressing device, enabling greater flexibility in material choice and component geometry while achieving direct thermal joining
4Strength
If mechanical joining processes such as screwing and riveting are used, then connection is achieved, but local cross-section reductions occur with disrupted force flow in fiber reinforced plastics that substantially degrade material properties
Solution Approach 1:
The invention utilizes the phase transition of the thermoplastic material from solid to molten state during heating. The softened thermoplastic flows into the joint region and bonds directly to the metal surface, creating a continuous material flow that maintains force transmission without the cross-section reductions and disruptions caused by mechanical fasteners, thereby preserving the material properties of fiber reinforced plastics
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables secure, rapid connections between metal and thermoplastic components with reduced cycle times, achieving high connection strengths and flexibility in material selection, surpassing conventional methods by allowing for homogeneous temperature control and efficient processing.
Implementation Method 1
The heating device has at least one electrical resistance heating element
Implementation Method 2
At least one laser beam is preferably directed through an element that is transparent for the laser radiation, that is an integral part of the plunger and/or of the counterholder, and onto the metal or ceramic component(s) within the joining region
Implementation Method 3
It has at least one inductor present at the plunger and/or beside the counterholder for the inductive heating of the metal component(s)
Implementation Method 4
the components to be joined to one another can be pressed together or pulled apart by a pressing device having a counterholder and a plunger
Implementation Method 5
a heating of the component formed from or by polymer material takes place at least during the pressing together by at least one heating device present at the plunger and/or counterholder. The heating of the at least one metal or ceramic component here takes place up to above the softening temperature and, on the joining, below the decomposition temperature of the polymer
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an apparatus and to a method for establishing a connection having material continuity or having material continuity and shaping matching or for separating such a connection of at least one metal or ceramic component and of a component formed from or by a thermoplastic polymer in which the components to be joined together can be pressed together by a pressing device having a counterholder and a plunger. A heating device is present at the plunger and/or at the counterholder or acts there. A heating of the at least one metal or ceramic component up to above the softening temperature of the component formed from or by polymer can be achieved with the heating device, with the heating device being having at least one electrical resistance heating element that is covered by an electrically insulating, preferably ceramic, protective film, and/or having at least one laser beam that is directed to the metal component(s) within the joining region, and/or having at least one inductor present at the plunger and/or at the counterholder for the inductive heating of the meal component(s).