Recent Trend in Joining of Metal to Polymer- A Review

The metal-polymer hybrid system is widely used in automobile and aviation sector due to its lightweight characteristics. Besides, it has many advantages such as noise reduction and damping. Inclusion of these system improve the fuel economy, which eventually results in dramatic reduction of carbon footprint. One of the important metal-polymer hybrid system is sandwich panels. These are used as structural members by the transportation industries. Joining of polymers to metals is always a challenge because of their large property difference. Traditional joining methods are not recommended practice in sandwich sheet joining. Till now, many attempts are made to join polymers to metals. This paper highlights various difficulties and defects in joining of polymer to metals. Moreover, effect of process variables is also discussed in detail. The main objective of this review is to find out an efficient process for joining of metal-polymer composite and to establish a systematic approach of improving the quality of joints in sandwich sheets.