Application of thermal spraying for the manufacture of metal/plastic components

Metal/plastic material concepts are being utilised for ever more applications in practice since the advantages of both materials can thus be combined in one component. In this respect, the concept is often used in order to provide a plastic component with an electrical functionality. One challenge is the manufacture of the components in a short process chain so that the efficiency of the production can be raised and the costs of the component reduced. At present, the Surface Engineering Institute (IOT) and the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen University are jointly exploring a new technology with which both processes (thermal spraying and injection moulding) are being combined with each other in order to be able to manufacture multimaterial components more efficiently.