• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.26 no.6
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• pp.348-355
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• 2017

In recent years, dissimilar materials such as aluminum, magnesium, titanium, and advanced high strength steel are widely used in automotive body due to environment concerns and fuel consumption. Therefore, joining technology is important for assembling components made of dissimilar materials. In this study, friction stir hole clinching (FSHC) was proposed as a new mechanical joining method to join dissimilar materials. This process stirs and heats the upper sheet, forming mechanical interlocking with the lower sheet. The feasibility of this FSHC process was verified by comparing cross-section of joint in FSHC and hole clinching process under the same processing condition. Taguchi method was also applied to the FSHC process to estimate the effect of process parameters on joint strength and obtain optimal combination of process parameters. Joint strength of FSHC with optimal process condition was compared to that of FSHC with initial process condition as well as that of hole clinching with optimal process condition. Results showed that the FSHC process was useful for joining dissimilar materials, even if the formability of materials was low.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Mechanical Technology
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• v.20 no.6
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• pp.886-893
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• 2018

In this study, clinching characteristics of aluminum and galvanized steels were investigated for the application of clinching as a joining technique to aluminum wheelhouse assembly. A6451 aluminium alloy and galvanized steel sheets were joined by hybrid joining(clinching + adhesive bonding). Tensile-shear load and fracture mode of hybrid joints were investigated. Maximum tensile-shear load of hybrid joints was about six times higher than that of clinched joints without adhesive. Energy absorption values of hybrid joints were higher than those of clinched joints without adhesive as well as resistance spot welded steel joints. Developed aluminum wheelhouse assembly showed higher static stiffness than the existing steel parts. Aluminum wheelhouse inner panel unit was 44% lighter than the steel unit, and the final assembled aluminum wheelhouse was 14.6% lighter than the existing steel parts.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2009.05a
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• pp.401-404
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is investigating the joint characteristics of advanced high strength steel DP780 and Al5052 alloy sheet in the clinching process. It is difficult to join the advanced high strength steel with light-weight materials like aluminum alloy, because of low formability of DP780. The defects of clinching joint such as necking of the upper sheet, cracks of the lower sheet and no interlocking were occurred by different ductility between advanced high strength steel and aluminum alloy. The clinching conditions should be optimized to interlock without any defects. In this study, the effect of process parameters of clinching process on joinability of advanced high strength steel with Al5052 alloy was investigated by using FE-analysis. From the result of FE-analysis, the clearance between clinching punch and die, die depth and the shape of die cavity mainly affected the joinability of advanced high strength steel with Al5052 alloy.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.36 no.6
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• pp.691-698
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• 2012

The joining of aluminum and HSS (high-strength steel) by the conventional clinching process is limited by the low formability of HSS. Defects in the clinching joint, such as necking of the upper sheet, cracks, and lack of interlocking, are produced by the different ductility properties of HSS and aluminum. In this study, we propose the hole clinching process for joining Al6061 and SPFC440, in which deformation of SPFC440 is avoided by drilling a hole in the SPFC440. The dimensions of the interlocking in the hole-clinched joint necessary to provide the required joint strength were determined. Based on the volume constant of the hole clinching process, the shapes of the tools were designed by finite element (FE)-analysis. A hole clinching experiment was performed to verify the proposed process. A cross-section of the joint showed good agreement with the results of the FE-analysis. The lap shear strength was found to be 2.56 kN, which is higher than required joint strength.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.34 no.8
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• pp.997-1006
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• 2010

For manufacturing modern cars, so-called multi-materials, such as aluminum alloy with high-strength steels, are used. For obtaining such materials, a new joining method is required to achieve the multi-material design. Mechanical clinching is one of joining methods used to join the dissimilar materials. The objective of this study is to investigate the characteristics of mechanical clinching of Al5052 alloy to high-strength steels (SPFC440, 590, 780). Using FE-analysis and clinching experiment, the joinability of Al5052 alloy to high-strength steel is evaluated by geometrical shape of mechanical clinched joint, such as neck-thickness and undercut. Further, the joint strength is evaluated by performing a single-lap shear test. The upper high-strength steel SPFC780 was not clinched because of the necking of the upper sheet. The joint strength increased with increasing strength of the upper sheet. For the lower high-strength steel sheet, the joinability and joint strength decreased with increasing strength of the lower sheet.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.83-90
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• 2021

In this paper, a parametric study on the influence of friction between materials on pull force in single clinching is conducted using an axisymmetric elasto-plastic finite element method and law of Coulomb friction. An appropriate finite element analysis model is given, which minimizes the effect of the material model and numerical factors including the number of quadrilateral finite elements and blank radius. It is emphasized that the elasto-plastic material model should be employed because the elastic deformation of the internal region is affected more by the pull force. It has been shown that the pull force increases as friction coefficient increases and that the optimized friction coefficient is around 0.4, which is qualitatively comparable with its theoretical value. When the friction coefficient reaches 0.5 in the example studied, the neck fracture is predicted.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.29-32
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• 2002

The mechanical joining process of a sheet metal pair has been developed in order to replace the resistance spot welding process in case that joining of mechanically unweldable materials and coated sheet metals with different thickness are needed. Form-joining or clinching, a kind of mechanical joining process, is defined as joining process of a sheet metal pair by geometric constraint imposed by plastic deformation of workpieces without any additive part. It has been reported that the joining strength by commercial form-joining apparatus is 50∼70 percent of that by resistance spot welding. Therefore, a two-step form-joining process with a secondary punch is proposed. The device is designed to improve the joining strength by increasing the geometric constraint of the deformed shape by combining a primary punch, a secondary punch and a female die. In order to verify the improved joining strength by the designed process, the tensile-shear strength, the peel-tension strength and the asymmetric peel-tension strength are compared with those by the TOX process and resistance spot welding.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Technology of Plasticity Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.131-135
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• 2003

The form-joining process (or clinching) uses a set of die and punch to impose the plastic deformation-induced geometric constraint on a sheet metal pair, But their joining strength ranges 50-70 percent of that of the resistance spot welding. In this paper, a new form-joining process with the aid of adhesive is proposed in which an epoxy adhesive is applied to a sheet metal pair, to improve joining strength. The strength and mechanical properties of the new process are discussed and compared for other joining processes.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.342-349
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• 2004

The form-joining process (or clinching) uses a set of die and punch to impose the plastic deformation-induced geometric constraint on a sheet metal pair. The joining strength from the process ranges 50-70 percent of that of the resistance spot welding. In this paper, a new form-joining process with the aid of an adhesive is proposed in which an epoxy adhesive is applied to a sheet metal pair, and before it cures the pair is clinched to cause the geometric constraint in the form of a protrusion. In order to reduce the forming load and the height of protrusions, a new die and punch set with a very small clearance is devised to reduce the depth of drawing and the forming load. Taguchi method is employed to find the optimal values of design parameters. To implement each case of the orthogonal array, the finite element method is used. The experiments show that in the tensile-shear test, the bonding strength of the new form-joining process with an epoxy adhesive is approximately the same as that of the resistance spot welding; and in comparison with the other two form-joining processes with an epoxy adhesive, the height of protrusions is reduced by more than 65 percent and the forming load by 50 percent.

• Transactions of Materials Processing
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.217-223
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• 2010

The objective of this study is to propose the FE model for mechanical clinched joint using cohesive zone model to analyze its failure behavior under impact loading. Cohesive zone model (CZM) is two-parameter failure criteria approach, which could describe the failure behavior of joint using critical stress and fracture toughness. In this study, the relationship between failure behavior of mechanical clinched joint and fracture parameters is investigated by FE analysis with CZM. Using this relationship, the critical stress and fracture toughness for tensile and shear mode are determined by H-type tensile test and lap shear test, which were made of 5052 aluminum alloy. The fracture parameters were applied to the tophat impact test to evaluate the crashworthiness. Compared penetration depth and energy absorption at the point where 50% of total displacement in result of FE analysis and experiment test for impact test, those has shown similar crashworthiness.