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Self-piercing riveting (SPR) is a cold mechanical joining process used to join two or more sheets of materials by driving a rivet piercing through the top sheet or the top and middle sheets and subsequently lock into the bottom sheet under the guidance of a suitable die. SPR is currently the main joining method for aluminium and mixed-material lightweight automotive structures. SPR was originated half century ago, but it only had significant progress in the last 25 years due to the requirement of joining lightweight materials, such as aluminium alloy structures, aluminium-steel structures and other mixed-material structures, from the automotive industry. Compared with other conventional joining methods, SPR has many advantages including no pre-drilled holes required, no fume, no spark and low noise, no surface treatment required, ability to join multi-layer materials and mixed materials and ability to produce joints with high static and fatigue strengths. In this paper, research investigations that have been conducted on self-piercing riveting will be extensively reviewed. The current state and development of SPR process is reviewed and the influence of the key process parameters on joint quality is discussed. The mechanical properties of SPR joints, the corrosion behaviour of SPR joints, the distortion of SPR joints and the simulation of SPR process and joint performance are reviewed. Developing reliable simulation methods for SPR process and joint performance to reduce the need of physical testing has been identified as one of the main challenges.

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Copyright 2007 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.The combustion synthesis of TiC, using the thermal explosion mode, was investigated by varying some of the process parameters including the reactant particle size, the pre-compaction pressure, and the heating rate. Based on these observations, a combustion model for the reaction was developed. When iron was added to titanium and carbon black powders, the ignition temperature was dictated by the eutectic temperature of the Fe-Ti system. Iron acted as a moderator for the reaction and led to a decrease in the combustion temperatur

Biofuel is a sustainable alternative to conventional marine fuels; the key issues in promoting the use of biofuel in marine transportation are addressed.