Passenger seats made of aluminum, railings made of reinforced plastics and struts out of carbon: the most disparate materials are combined in modern aerospace and automotive engineering. Joining these hybrid structures so that they are tear-resistant, and therefore secure, requires experience as well as precise expertise. In addition to conventional joining processes, such as adhesive bonding, welding or mechanical fastening, advanced joining methods have been introduced in the last decade. It has so far required a great deal of effort to identify the benefits and drawbacks of these various methods.

This has changed in March 2018 with the publication of the new book Joining of Polymer-Metal Hybrid Structures: Principles and Applications (Wiley, USA) edited by Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Prof Sergio T. Amancio-Filho (Graz University of Technology, TU Graz, Austria) and Dr.-Ing. Lucian-Attila Blaga (Helmholtz-Zentrum Geesthacht, HZG, Germany). The book comprehensively describes the scientific basis and engineering properties of the state-of-the-art and novel joining technologies for the first time. Joining technology experts from North and South America, Europe and Asia have contributed with their expertise to the new book.

“We revised the fundamentals, properties and applications of advanced joining methods together with other joining experts from all over the world,” explains Prof. Amancio. “In addition to conventional methods, such as adhesive bonding and riveting, we address solid-state joining methods developed by my team of engineers in Germany, and now within the scope of my new BMVIT endowed professorship for aviation in Graz”. In these new joining processes, the metallic material is plasticized by using a rotating or vibrating tool that applies pressure and creates heat by friction, softening the metallic material, whereby the plastic or the composite polymeric matrix is partially fused or softened. These various materials are thus joined to each other mechanically and physically, forming connections that are exceptionally strong without the need for adhesives, filler materials or heavy fasteners.

Technologies comprehensively described for the first time
The book deals with scientific properties, including structural, physical, chemical and metallurgical and/or polymer phenomena as well as technical properties, such as mechanical performance, design or application of the different methods. The theoretical descriptions are supplemented by applied examples from industry and research. 

Target Group: Higher Education and the Industrial Sector
The book’s target group consists of engineers in automotive and aerospace engineering and in the construction industry. Furthermore, it is also oriented toward students in the fields of mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, materials sciences, aerospace and automotive engineering. The editors also bear in mind the regional industry: “Numerous manufacturers in the fields of aerospace engineering and automotive as well as their associated suppliers are located in the Hamburg metropolitan region, as well as in the state of Styria in Austria. Their research departments especially will benefit from the expertise collected in the book," says Dr. Blaga with certainty.

... more information on wiley.com

The Graz University of Technology, and Austrian industry key-players establish Austria’s first endowed chair for aerospace research

With an average annual growth of over three percent globally, the aerospace sector is taking off. In order to take advantage of this potential, an endowed chair has been established at the Graz University of Technology in cooperation with industry partners voestalpine, Fuchshofer Präzisionstechnik, TCM International, and Diamond Aircraft Industries. Since March this year, this position has been officially held by German-Brazilian materials scientist Sergio Amancio. The aim of this cooperation between science and business is to establish an international competence center for the development of pioneering materials and production technologies in the aerospace sector. voestalpine is the largest industrial partner and, with its high-performance materials and special forgings used in extremely high-load-bearing structural, engine, and undercarriage parts, is one of the world’s major suppliers to the aviation industry.

Harald Kainz, Rector of TU Graz, says “The new endowed chair and the team of experts at the Graz University of Technology is helping to turn Graz into a scientific hotspot, one closely linked to the regional aircraft supplies industry. Our aim is to become an internationally renowned center for aerospace materials and production technologies.” ... More

Erste Professur für Luftfahrtforschung in Graz ...