Multi-material designs enable more efficient use of material-specific properties, which is necessary for sustainable and resource-saving production. However, multi-material polymer joints confront conventional joining methods with major challenges. Therefore, novel joining processes such as joining using pin-like structures are required. Investigations into this innovative process have provided initial findings of, for example, the design criteria of the pin-like structures depending on the material combination. For further optimization of the process, the filling behavior and the shrinkage effects occurring in pin-like joining are herein investigated. These have a decisive influence on the resulting bond quality. To identify the correlations, the joining step was carried out on the one hand using vibration welding technology with and without pre-heating of the structured-partner. On the other hand, the injection molding process was used to realize filling of the structures, as well as cooling under increased pressure. The investigations show that the shrinkage behavior clearly influences the filling degree and the bond properties of the multi-material joint. For shrinkage-intensive materials, filling and cooling under pressure is essential to achieve high mechanical bond strengths, whereas for materials with low shrinkage, the pressure during the joining step is negligible.
Keywords: adhesion-incompatible; multi-material; pin-like structures; vibration welding.