Method of joining a first component of a composite material to a second component of a different material and an automobile having a composite transmission tunnel bonded to metal floorpan panels

摘要

The present invention relates to a method of joining a first component (10) of composite material composed of fibres set in a resin with a second component (11) of a different material; the first component (10) is provided with a flanged edge portion (12) and a layer of adhesive extends between said flanged edge portion (12) and the second component (11), the fibres in the flanged edge portion (12) extend into the remainder of the first component (10); and the smallest dimension of the surface area of the flanged portion (12) is no more than thirty-five times greater than the thickness of the layer of adhesive. The present invention also relates to an automobile having a transmission tunnel (10), wherein the transmission tunnel (10) is formed of a composite material composed of fibres set in a resin and the floorpan (11) comprises first and second metal panels (11) bonded one each to a spaced apart pair of longitudinal extending edges (12) of the transmission tunnel (10).