Joining by forming of polymer-metal sheet-tube connections

Abstract

This paper focuses on the mechanical joining of sheets to tubes made from dissimilar materials. The objective is to investigate the applicability of deformation-assisted joining by annular sheet squeezing to hybrid polymer-metal connections in order to understand how this new process can be used as an alternative to conventional fastening and adhesive bonding. The presentation draws from identification of the main operating parameters and modes of deformation to characterisation of the process workability limits. Selected test cases retrieved from experimentation and finite element simulation are included. The work is an extension of the previous work of the authors on metallic materials, and results show that joining by annular sheet squeezing is an easy and effective solution to connect a metal sheet to a polymer tube away from its end.