Ultrasonic joining of through-the-thickness reinforced metal-composite hybrid structures (Dissertation)

Abstract

Joining concepts that are traditionally used to join hybrid metal-composite structures present several limitations with regard to load transfer between the materials. The present doctoral thesis aims at introducing the Ultrasonic Joining (U-Joining), a new joining approach to produce through-the-thickness reinforced metal-composite hybrid joints that have improved out-of-plane strength. In order to demonstrate the process feasibility and describe the correlation between process and joint properties, a case study approach was chosen, using commercially available glass-fiber reinforced polyetherimide and MIM-Structured Ti-6Al-4V.