Rigid-Plastic and Elastic-Plastic Finite Element Analysis on the Clinching Joint Process of Thin Metal Sheets

摘要

This article describes the joining of thin metal sheets by a single stroke clinching process. Elastic-plasticand rigid-plastic finite element analysis were applied by employing Coulomb friction and constant shear frictionin order to investigate the behavior of the clinch joint formation process. Four process variables, such asdie diameter, die depth, groove width, and groove corner radius were selected to investigate the parametriceffect on the clinch joint. The strength of clinch joints were evaluated by examining the separation strengths,such as peel strength and tensile shear strength, respectively. A failure diagram was constructed that summarizesthe analysis results. The simulation results showed that die diameter and depth were the most decisive parametersfor controlling the quality of the clinch joint, while the bottom's thickness was the most important evaluationparameter to determine the separation strengths.