Low Temperature Soldering of Laser Structured and Metal Coated Fiber Reinforced Plastics

Abstract

Assemblies containing fiber-reinforced plastic (FRP) and metal parts are typically fastened together via mechanical joining or adhesive bonding. Mechanical joining processes tend to weaken FRP parts by cutting fibers, while adhesives require long cures and often lead to inseparable material compounds. This paper evaluates a new joining method in which plastic parts are laser treated, then metallized via wire-arc spraying, and finally soldered to mating metal parts using a low-temperature process. Due to the effective increase in interface area resulting from laser structuring, bond strengths of up to 15.5 MPa can be achieved.