The application of equivalent modeling of joints for bending simulation of hybrid aluminum/high strength steel thin-walled sections joined by clinching

Abstract

Fuel economy and stringent environmental regulations have forced the automotive industry to adopt lightweight materials for car bodies. Utilization of multi-materials is an effective approach for lightweight design of the automotive body structure. Introducing such lightweighting solutions faces the automotive industry with challenges in terms of joining methods. Clinching is a cost-effective alternative of conventional spot welding which enables joining of similar and dissimilar materials by local plastic deformation. This study undertakes the experimental and numerical investigation of the bending energy absorption of a multi-material aluminum alloy Al 5052/SPFC 390 high strength steel clinched beam by means of a quasi-static three-point bending test. Connector elements with six degrees of freedom are employed as simplified equivalent models of the beam clinched joints in software ABAQUS. The elastic and plastic behaviors of the connector are calibrated using experimental shear lap and pull-out tests. The calibrated clinch joint model is then used in the bending test simulation of the hybrid clinched beam and the numerical results are validated with experiments. The simulations results are found to be in good agreement with experiments and it is shown that the employed equivalent model can successfully predict the bending behavior of the hybrid material clinched beam.