New technique of friction-based filling stacking joining for metal and polymer

A novel technique named friction filling staking joining (FFSJ) was proposed to join 6082-T6 aluminum alloy and poly propylene (PP) polymer sheets. The FFSJ was realized with the filling of a pre-fabricated hole using an additional filling stud. The excellent FFSJ joint was achieved under the synthesis effects of frictional heat and thermo-mechanical behavior at the interface between the filling stud and polymer sheet. The intimate joining formed at the interface, while the pre-fabricated hole was completely filled with the stud. A macro mechanical interlocking formed between the metal and filling stud, attributing to the main joining mechanism. And the partial adhesive layer appeared between the re-solidified polymer and metal. The maximum tensile shear strength was comparable to that of state-of-the-art welding. The FFSJ combines the benefits of the improvement of assembly precision, simple process, short welding cycle and high strength compared with the state-of-the-art welding, indicating that the FFSJ technique has potential to join metal with polymer or polymer matrix composites.