Research and development of new atmospheric plasma systems for surface treatments aimed at improving metal/polymer adhesion in innovative production processes
The JoinPlasm project is a research and development project aimed at both product and process innovation to be used in the advanced production systems and smart manufacturing sectors. The project involved the study of plasma-assisted surface treatments for the improvement of metal/polymer adhesion in “zero-joint” over-injection processes.
In addition to the use of the current atmospheric plasma technology, developed and marketed by Nadir, for the deposition in the plasma phase of a particular thin-film, nanometric, called “primer-like coating”, the project saw the development of a new customized type of plasma source characterized by a cylindrical geometry, able to carry out the surface modification process coaxially with respect to the materials of interest, and therefore more suitable for the treatment of continuos profiles, long-limbed and tubular materials.
The development of the new atmospheric plasma source was supported by the studies carried out by the University of Padua, which deals with the basic study of the system to be developed: from the simulation and modeling of simplified prototypes to their experimental verification. Finally, the plasma generation and control system has been updated and equipped with communication interfaces in order to make the new machine-process system controllable remotely, inserted in IoT systems, and compliant with the industry 4.0 requirements.
