Composite Joining: Fastener Pros and Cons
5/2/2013 10:25:00 AM
FEATURE
Automotive manufacturers are turning to carbon-fiber composites for weight reduction and other benefits, Assembly Magazine reports. But composites “pose a wide variety of joining challenges to engineers, who must choose between mechanical fastening or adhesive bonding,” writes Assembly Magazine’s Austin Weber.
Fasteners are a popular alternative, Weber reports, because “strength is quite predictable vs. bonding and they require no time to cure or set.” But other fastening issues must be addressed.
“Composites can be a very unforgiving material to fasten,” notes Gene Simpson, vice president of quality and engineering at Semblex Corp. “The consistency and strength of the composite structure are issues that engineers must tackle. Once you insert a fastener into a composite, you run the risk of damaging the matrix resin structure of the material.”
Click here for the full story from Assembly Magazine.
There are no comments at the moment, do you want to add one?
Write a comment