Separation and reclamation of automotive hybrid structures made of metal and fibre-reinforced plastic.

Currently, resource efficiency is getting more importance due to a build-up of disposed waste in landfills. The closed raw material cycle is an important topic in industries as it is economic and pollute free. This scenario applies to both existing and innovative future materials. To tackle the pollute emission of vehicles, multi-material and hybrid structures are gaining importance in lightweight construction. Hybrid structures that are a combination of metallic materials and carbon-fibre-reinforced plastics (CFRP) are often used for lightweight structures. In the present work, a method is presented that can separate hybrid structures (metal and CFRP) using thermal process so that they can be recycled separately. The thermal process was investigated with the help of different heating techniques such as the furnace, induction, resistance, and infrared on the hybrid structures. Corresponding process windows and the boundary conditions for respective heating techniques are investigated in the current work. The influence of various heating techniques on the separation process is validated using microscopic results.