Friction Spot Joining of aluminum AA2024/carbon-fiber reinforced poly(phenylene sulfide) composite single lap joints: Microstructure and mechanical performance

•The feasibility of Friction Spot Joining of AA2024-T3 with CF-PPS was demonstrated.•Average process temperatures were below the thermal degradation of the PPS matrix.•Joints using alclad specimens showed higher lap shear strength than bare specimens.•Aluminum Sand blasting pre-treatment enhances mechanical performance of the joints.•A simple model to describe failure mechanisms of the joints was proposed.

Friction Spot Joining is a promising alternative joining technology for polymer–metal hybrid structures. In this work, the feasibility of Friction Spot Joining of aluminum AA2024-T3 (bare and alclad)/carbon-fiber reinforced poly(phenylene sulfide) is reported. The process temperature and the microstructure of the joints were investigated. Lap shear tensile strength as high as 27 MPa was achieved by using aluminum bare specimens. Sand blasting was also performed as an effective mechanical surface pre-treatment on aluminum surfaces, which resulted in higher surface roughness and accordingly improved mechanical performance for the selected conditions. In addition, the alclad specimens exhibited promising mechanical performance (lap shear strength of up to 43 MPa) that justifies further investigations. Finally, the bonding and failure mechanisms of the joints are briefly discussed.