Finite element simulation of the hybrid clinch joining

Abstract

The paper describes an investigation into the use of mechanical clinching in cold-formed steel trusses. One of new joining methods is hybrid joining; the thin sheets were joined using different materials. The material behaviour law used is elasto-plastic. Due to the incremental nature of the plastic law, the updated Lagrangian formulation is utilized to describe the large elasto-plastic deformation process. The contact and friction described by the Coulomb law are considered by the penalty method. In the present work, we have used the dynamic explicit approach based on finite element method to get the hybrid joining and the effect of geometrical and mechanical parameters of the clinching process. Furthermore, we have numerically evaluated the pure tensile test to get the mechanical strength of the assembly.