Shanghai Institute of Optics and Mechanics has made progress in metal-carbon fibre composite heterogeneous joints

The team used an adjustable flat-top rectangular semiconductor laser as a heat source to realise the connection between high-strength steel and thermoplastic resin-based carbon fibre composite materials. They clarified the relationship between the thermal history of the interface of dissimilar materials, the interface forming mechanism and the joint performance, and proposed a new type of laser heat input process strategy. The relevant research results were published in Composite Structures under the title “Effect of interfacial thermal history on bonding mechanism of laser assisted joining of QP980-CFRTP with adjustable flat-top rectangular laser beam”.

The development of high-performance multi-material system hybrid structures is a development trend in the aerospace field. Carbon fibre reinforced thermoplastic composite materials have ultra-high specific strength and toughness, and their hybrid application with metals can simultaneously meet the needs of structural lightweighting and cost control.

There are huge differences in physical and chemical properties between metals and composite materials. Existing methods for joining dissimilar materials have shortcomings. There is an urgent need to develop new high-quality and efficient joining processes. Relevant research results have broad application prospects in aerospace and other related fields.