Abstract
Clinching is a mechanical sheet metal joining technique, wherein the sheets are geometrically interlocked using a specially designed tool that does not require pre-hole or additional rivet material. In practical situations, the use of cross-tensile configuration is widespread, whose load-bearing capacity is found to be lower than that of lap shear configuration. Analytical models are easy to use and enable faster evaluation of joint strength. A novel analytical approach is proposed and validated experimentally. It is done on clinching joints made from Al 1100, because of low cost and good corrosion properties, sheets for various die flange diameters. Further, the experimental work carried out on various die flange diameters, varying from 0 to 12 mm at a step of 2 mm, showed that a different mode of failure could occur in which the interlock region fails by shear rather than button separation. The strength of joints in this proposed failure mode is consistent with the experimental data. The maximum strength of 2.15 kN was observed for a 6 mm diameter flange. Finite element simulations are performed to predict the occurrence of this mode of failure and its associated strength. Importantly, the critical interlock angle at which this mode of failure occurs is predicted. In the present study, this mode of failure is seen to occur when the angle of interlock exceeds 20°. The strength of the joints is higher during the button shear mode of failure when compared to the button separation mode. The critical angle thus commands the incurring mode of failure.
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Abbreviations
- X:
-
Plate thickness between die and punch
- Y:
-
Interlock length
- tU :
-
Undercut
- α:
-
Interlock angle
- tN :
-
Neck thickness
- Rp :
-
Punch radius
- RC :
-
Punch corner radius
- Rf :
-
Die flange radius
- Rd :
-
Die radius
- H:
-
Die depth
- Fb :
-
Button strength
- Fse :
-
Button separation strength
- µ:
-
Coefficient of friction
- σ:
-
Yield strength
- Fn :
-
Neck strength
- Fsh :
-
Button shear strength
- τT :
-
Top shear strength
- τB :
-
Bottom sheet base metal material
- CoF:
-
Coefficient of friction
- Vx :
-
Axisymmetric strained x-direction
- FD:
-
Die flange diameter
- αc :
-
Critical interlock angle
- SFTC:
-
Scientific forming technologies and corporation
- Fsh (T):
-
Button shear strength at the top
- Fsh (B):
-
Button shear strength at the bottom
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Kumar, S., Lakshmikanthan, A., Selvan, C.P. et al. Effect of interlock angle and bottom die flange diameter on clinching joint load bearing capacity in cross-tensile loading. Int J Interact Des Manuf 17, 2209–2220 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-022-00955-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12008-022-00955-5