Surface Modification with Laser: Pretreatment of Aluminium Alloys for Adhesive Bonding

In the case of aluminium alloys the surface preparation step for adhesive bonding is an established process in industry which still causes problems when integrated in serial production. Therefore, a group of industrial companies and university institutes worked on a pretreatment especially for aluminium, which is Nd:YAG laser based and which avoids disadvantages of the existing methods. The results show that it is possible to create a surface which achieves good bonding performance and aging-resistant aluminium joints. The newly developed laser pretreatment and adhesive application stylus makes possible the implementation of serial production.