Bonding technology as an innovative joining process is used in almost all areas of industrial production. In medical technology, many modern instruments can only be manufactured using bonding as a joining technique.
The selection of suitable adhesives is particularly difficult. They must be sterilizable and medically approved, and they must have sufficient adhesion to the joining partners for the application. In this project, a procedure is being developed to find suitable adhesives for material pairings and requirements defined by the companies involved.
Bonding technology as an innovative joining process is used today in almost all areas of industrial production. It is used in automotive and commercial vehicle construction, aviation, the electronics industry and mechanical engineering. In the near future, bonding technology will also be increasingly used as a joining process in other areas such as medical technology.
In Baden-Württemberg, almost all medium-sized or small companies in the Tuttlingen area manufacture instruments for medical technology. The rapid further development of surgical procedures requires a constant reorientation of the development of instruments to the requirements of the market. The joining processes of soldering or welding, which have been used almost exclusively in medical technology tool making up to now, lead to higher production costs than bonding technology. The bonding technology is often used purely empirically and without sound knowledge regarding the selection of suitable adhesives and surface pretreatment processes.
It is therefore to be expected that qualified bonding technology will immediately find its way into the manufacturing know-how of medium-sized companies due to the improved product properties and reduced manufacturing costs.
With this joint project, the joining techniques of soldering and welding, which have been common in medical technology tools up to now, are to be replaced by bonding technology as a new process on the one hand, and on the other hand the bonding technology currently used in medical technology instruments is to be qualified. The aim of the project is to qualify bonding technology through systematic investigations and tests using previously unused adhesives to such an extent that safe and reliable joints are created that meet the diverse specific requirements of medical instruments.
Bonding technology as a joining method for medical technology tools made of metallic and non-metallic components is only used empirically.
In general, there is a lack of reliable data regarding
- Optimum design of the connection
- Selection of suitable adhesives
- Effect of sterilisation and cleaning processes on the strength and durability of adhesive joints (resistance tests).
The aim is to achieve significant progress compared to the state of the art and to develop a technology for medical technology that leads to improved product properties and reduced production costs. The project concept includes the development of requirement profiles, laboratory and practical tests in cooperation with manufacturers and user companies (SMEs) and, using the know-how available at the NMI, aims consistently at the development of efficient, industry-relevant solutions.
- Plasmatreat GmbH