Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Experimental study on the height-reduced joints to increase the cross-tensile strength

  • ORIGINAL ARTICLE
  • Published:
The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Mechanical clinching technology for joining aluminium alloy sheets has been a hot research topic in recent years. However, the clinched joint has a lower static strength than the welded joint and self-pierce riveted joint. In order to increase the strength of the clinched joint, a height-reducing method was investigated in the study. The material of the sheets is AL5052 which is widely used on the automotive body. Extensible dies were used to produce the clinched joint, while a flat die and a bumped die were used to produce the height-reduced joint. In the height-reducing process, the protrusion of the clinched joint was compressed by the flat die. The material of the protrusion flowed to the neck, which increased the strength of the joint by increasing the neck thickness. Different joints with different geometrical parameters were used to conduct the cross-tensile tests. The cross-tensile strength, energy absorption, failure mode and geometrical parameter of the joint are investigated. The results show that the cross-tensile strength and energy absorption of the joint can be increased by the height-reducing process. The main failure mode of the joints is neck fracture mode. The height-reducing method can increase the neck thickness with the decrease of the protrusion height. The height-reducing method was proved to be effective for increasing the strength of the clinched joint.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Lambiase F, Di Ilio A (2014) An experimental study on clinched joints realized with different dies. Thin-Walled Struct 85:71–80

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Varis JP (2002) The suitability of round clinching tools for high strength structural steel. Thin-Walled Struct 40:225–238

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Mucha J (2011) The analysis of lock forming mechanism in the clinching joint. Mater Des 32:4943–4954

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Mucha J (2014) The numerical analysis of the effect of the joining process parameters on self-piercing riveting using the solid rivet. Arch Civ Mech Eng 14:444–454

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Mucha J, Kaščák L, Spišák E (2011) Joining the car-body sheets using clinching process with various thickness and mechanical property arrangements. Arch Civ Mech Eng 11(1):135–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Mucha J, Witkowski W (2013) The experimental analysis of the double joint type change effect on the joint destruction process in uniaxial shearing test. Thin-Walled Struct 66:39–49

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Lambiase F (2013) Influence of process parameters in mechanical clinching with extensible dies. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 66:2123–2131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lambiase F, Di Ilio A, Paoletti A (2015) Joining aluminium alloys with reduced ductility by mechanical clinching. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 77:1295–1304

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Eshtayeh MM, Hrairi M, Mohiuddin AKM (2016) Clinching process for joining dissimilar materials state of the art. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 82:179–195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Eshtayeh MM, Hrairi M (2016) Recent and future development of the application of finite element analysis in clinching process. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 84:2589–2608

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lee CJ, Kim JY, Lee SK, Ko DC, Kim BM (2010) Parametric study on mechanical clinching process for joining aluminum alloy and high-strength steel sheets. J Mech Sci Technol 24:123–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Coppieters S, Cooreman S, Lava P, Sol H, Van Houtte P, Debruyne D (2011) Reproducing the experimental pull-out and shear strength of clinched sheet metal connections using FEA. Int J Mater Form 4:429–440

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Coppieters S, Lava P, Baes S, Sol H, Van Houtte P, Debruyne D (2012) Analytical method to predict the pull-out strength of clinched connections. Thin-Walled Struct 52:42–52

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Lambiase F, Di Ilio A (2016) Damage analysis in mechanical clinching: experimental and numerical study. J Mater Process Technol 230:109–120

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Jiang T, Liu ZX, Wang PC (2015) Effect of aluminum pre-straining on strength of clinched galvanized SAE1004 steel-to-AA6111-T4 aluminum. J Mater Process Technol 215:193–204

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Lee CJ, Kim JY, Lee SK, Ko DC, Kim BM (2010) Design of mechanical clinching tools for joining of aluminium alloy sheets. Mater Des 31:1854–1861

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. Lambiase F, Durante M, Di Ilio A (2016) Fast joining of aluminum sheets with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) by mechanical clinching. J Mater Process Technol 236:241–251

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Lambiase F (2015) Clinch joining of heat-treatable aluminum AA6082-T6 alloy under warm conditions. J Mater Process Technol 225:421–432

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Lambiase F (2015) Mechanical behaviour of polymer–metal hybrid joints produced by clinching using different tools. Mater Des 87:606–618

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lambiase F (2015) Joinability of different thermoplastic polymers with aluminium AA6082 sheets by mechanical clinching. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 80:1995–2006

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Eshtayeh M, Hrairi M, Mohiuddin AKM (2016) Multi objective optimization of clinching joints quality using Grey-based Taguchi method. Int J Adv Manuf Technol. doi:10.1007/s00170-016-8471-1

    Google Scholar 

  22. Jiang T, Liu ZX, Wang PC (2015) Quality inspection of clinched joints of steel and aluminum. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 76:1393–1402

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Abe Y, Mori K, Kato T (2012) Joining of high strength steel and aluminium alloy sheets by mechanical clinching with dies for control of metal flow. J Mater Process Technol 212:884–889

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. He XC, Zhao L, Yang HY, Xing BY, Wang YQ, Deng CJ, FS G, Ball A (2014) Investigations of strength and energy absorption of clinched joints. Comput Mater Sci 94:58–65

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Saberi S, Enzinger N, Vallant R, Cerjak H, Hinterdorfer J, Rauch R (2008) Influence of plastic anisotropy on the mechanical behavior of clinched joint of different coated thin steel sheets. Int J Mater Form Suppl 1:273–276

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. He XC, Liu FL, Xing BY, Yang HY, Wang YQ, Deng CJ, FS G, Ball A (2014) Numerical and experimental investigations of extensible die clinching. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 74:1229–1236

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Mucha J, Witkowski W (2014) The clinching joints strength analysis in the aspects of changes in the forming technology and load conditions. Thin-Walled Struct 82:55–66

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Wen T, Wang H, Yang C, Liu LT (2014) On a reshaping method of clinched joints to reduce the protrusion height. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 71:1709–1715

    Article  Google Scholar 

  29. Mucha J, Kaščák L, Spišák E (2013) The experimental analysis of forming and strength of clinch riveting sheet metal joint made of different materials. Adv Mech Eng 5:1–11

    Google Scholar 

  30. Chen C, Zhao SD, Han XL, Cui MC, Fan SQ (2016) Optimization of a reshaping rivet to reduce the protrusion height and increase the strength of clinched joints. J Mater Process Technol 234:1–9

    Article  Google Scholar 

  31. Chen C, Zhao SD, Cui MC, Han XL, Fan SQ (2016) Mechanical properties of the two-steps clinched joint with a clinch-rivet. J Mater Process Technol 237:361–370

    Article  Google Scholar 

  32. Chen C, Zhao SD, Cui MC, Han XL, Fan SQ (2016) Numerical and experimental investigations of the reshaped joints with and without a rivet. Int J Adv Manuf Technol. doi:10.1007/s00170-016-8889-5

    Google Scholar 

  33. Chen C, Zhao SD, Han XL, Cui MC, Fan SQ (2016) Investigation of mechanical behavior of the reshaped joints realized with different reshaping forces. Thin-Walled Struct 107:266–273

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Mori K, Abe Y, Kato T (2012) Mechanism of superiority of fatigue strength for aluminium alloy sheets joined by mechanical clinching and self-pierce riveting. J Mater Process Technol 212:1900–1905

    Article  Google Scholar 

  35. He XC, Zhang Y, Xing BY, Gu FS, Ball A (2015) Mechanical properties of extensible die clinched joints in titanium sheet materials. Mater Des 71:26–35

    Article  Google Scholar 

  36. Xing BY, He XC, Wang YQ, Yang HY, Deng CJ (2015) Study of mechanical properties for copper alloy H62 sheets joined by self-piercing riveting and clinching. J Mater Process Technol 216:28–36

    Article  Google Scholar 

  37. Zhao SD, Xu F, Guo JH, Han XL (2014) Experimental and numerical research for the failure behavior of the clinched joint using modified rousselier model. J Mater Process Technol 214:2134–2145

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Mechanical Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, No 28, Xianning West Road, Xi’an, Shanxi, 710049, People’s Republic of China

    Chao Chen, Shuqin Fan, Xiaolan Han, Shengdun Zhao & Minchao Cui

  2. Graduate School of Science and Technology, Tokushima University, Tokushima, 770-8506, Japan

    Chao Chen, Minchao Cui & Tohru Ishida

Authors
  1. Chao Chen
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Shuqin Fan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Xiaolan Han
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Shengdun Zhao
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Minchao Cui
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Tohru Ishida
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chao Chen.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Chen, C., Fan, S., Han, X. et al. Experimental study on the height-reduced joints to increase the cross-tensile strength. Int J Adv Manuf Technol 91, 2655–2662 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-016-9939-8

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00170-016-9939-8

Keywords

Search

Navigation