Experimental investigations of laser structuring for metal surfaces in metal-plastic joints

First electric vehicles are exploiting the lightweight potential of plastics, with weight reductions of up to 70% in the vehicle outer skin. The use of plastics is also becoming increasingly interesting in component sub-systems such as thermal management. This requires implementation of multi-material use and requires joining of plastics and metals using suitable joining techniques. The thermal direct joining approach is an innovative technique that eliminates the need for filler materials such as adhesives or fasteners. By selectively micro structuring the surface of the metal partner by the laser, the plastics and metal can be thermally joined by heat conduction. The plastics flows into the cavities of the micro-structured metal surface to form a strong bond. In this work, different parameters of laser structuring on the joining quality and process speed are compared and evaluated.