Self-pierce riveting is a relatively new joining technique that is attracting interest for various engineering applications. The process does not require a pre-drilled hole and this can eliminate the alignment problem encountered by conventional mechanical fastening. A range of materials covering similar or dissimilar materials can be joined with multiple layers by such means. The study showed that the strength and fatigue behaviour of self-piercing rivets is affected by selecting a suitable rivet and anvil design as well as suitable sheet materials. Fretting scars were observed to occur at the contact of the joined sheets near the rivet. This observation has not been reported by previous studies. It was shown that fretting leads to crack initiation and fatigue failure of the joints.
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