Fibre reinforced polymers offer high strength and low weight, but their use in engineering invariably demands that they are joined to other materials, usually metals. A deep mistrust of the joint’s repeatability and integrity have, until now, coerced designers into over-conservatism regarding design and weight savings.

The composite to metal joining world could be changed as a result of the Comeld™ invention. Using a novel metal pre-treatment process, called Surfi-Sculpt™, composite materials can be joined to metals with excellent load displacement results. Surfi-Sculpt™ involves texturing of a metallic surface utilising a power beam technique e.g. electron beam, before the treated surface is joined to a composite material using standard processing techniques such as autoclave (when prepreg materials are used), and vacuum infusion for dry fabrics.

This presentation will explain the pre-treatment of stainless steels, aluminium and titanium alloys and the method of joining the pre-treated metals to glass and carbon fibre reinforced composite materials. Mechanical property data for glass to stainless steel and carbon to titanium will be shown, including video clips of the tests, to allow the failure mechanism of the joint to be clearly seen.. Finally the challenges that need to be faced in adopting this technology in industry will be presented to the audience.