Single-step production of metal-polymer-metal sandwich structures with a fiber-reinforced core: experiment, modeling and simulation

• Applicants: Professor Dr.-Ing. Stefan Hartmann; Professor Dr.-Ing. Heinz Palkowski; Professor Dr.-Ing. Gerhard Ziegmann
• Subject Area: Polymeric and Biogenic Materials and Derived Composites ; Plastics Engineering ; Mechanics ; Metallurgical, Thermal and Thermomechanical Treatment of Materials ; Production Automation and Assembly Technology ; Primary Shaping and Reshaping Technology, Additive Manufacturing
• Term: from 2017 to 2023
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 330043166

Sandwich structures, made up of different materials in the core and surface layers, meet the requirements of lightweight construction in moving structures to a high degree, while offering additional functionalities such as thermal or acoustic absorption, which bring advantages in technical applications. The coupling of metallic cover layers and fiber-reinforced polymer core material offers a high degree of functional integration and is the subject of various research projects. In the continuation proposal submitted here, the sustainable and secure integration of the material combinations in one step is planned, thus only one thermal step is required and the number of processing steps is significantly reduced. Additionally, it is planned to adjust the functionality locally by means of local insert elements. The interdisciplinary task of the project for the production of layered sandwich structures is being handled by three project partners. The working groups of the Institute of Metallurgy (IMET) and the Institute of Polymer Materials and Plastics Engineering (PuK) focus their work on process engineering and materials science issues. The Solid Mechanics group of the Institute of Applied Mechanics (ITM) deals with the field of modeling and simulation as well as the realization of related basic experiments to model and simulate the behavior of such metal-polymer-metal sandwich structures.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants