Determining the Effect of Process Parameters on Shearing Strength of Rotated Clinching Joint Using the Response Surface Method

Abstract

Rotated clinching is a novel cold plastic deformation joining process, which is suitable for the multi-point simultaneous joining of sheet metals. However, the effect of various parameters on the mechanical properties of joints using rotated clinching remains unclear. The purpose of this study is to analyse the important parameters that affect the joint’s shearing strength and relationship between them. The relational expression between the four process parameters (die depth, rotation angle, small fillet radius and large fillet radius) and joint shearing strength was established using the response surface method. Additionally, the quantitative relationship between them was expressed by this relational expression, and the significance of process parameters were evaluated using the analysis of variance. The results revealed that the most significant parameter regarding the shearing strength was die depth h, with the contribution of 47.1%, followed by rotation angle α and small fillet radius r1, with the contributions of 26.8% and 8.2%, respectively, whereas the large fillet radius R1 is the least significant, there is a significant interaction effect between R1 and α, with the contribution of 5.4%. The shearing strength had a negative relationship with the die depth h and small fillet r1, whereas it had a positive relationship with rotation angle α. The predicted maximum value of the shearing strength was 1231.92 N at h = 2.29 mm, r1 = 0.46 mm, R1 = 1.27 mm and α = 18.45° in the range of given design parameter values. The experimental values of the shearing strength comprised approximately 74% of the predicted values.