Novel method for joining CFRP to aluminium

The current state of the art in joining of carbon-fibre reinforced composites (CFRP) to metals such as aluminium is - for the case of aircraft structures, e.g.- riveting or bolting. However, to reduce structural weight and improve structural performance, integral, load-bearing aluminium-CFRP-structures are desirable. To produce such structures, a novel joint configuration together with an appropriate thermal, laser-based joining process is suggested by the authors.In this paper, the joint configuration (based on CFRP-Ti-aluminium joints) and the laser beam conduction welding process will be presented, and first specimens obtained will be discussed with respect to their properties. It will be shown that the novel approach is in principle suitable to produce load-bearing CFRP-aluminium structures.