GRAZ, Austria—Wood is a renewable raw material that is is climate-neutral, yet light and strong. That’s why it was heavily used in early aeroplanes and automobiles. Today, however, it is difficult to join wood parts to dissimilar materials, such as metals and polymer composites.

Engineers at the Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) recently addressed this challenge and have developed a new joining and additive manufacturing process that enables adhesive-free joining of metal and wood components. The new assembly method could have future applications in aerospace, automotive and furniture manufacturing.