Connection of difficult-to-form sheets by clinching process: A review

Abstract

The clinching technology attracted increasing attention in recent years, but its application might be restricted due to the growing employment of materials that are difficult to join and hybrid structures involving different mechanical performance materials. Traditional clinching technology has limitations of strain rate sensitivity, ductility and damage fracture when applied to materials with high strength, low strain-to-failure and low plasticity. However, the ductility and formability of the material represent a limitation for the clinching process. The present study explored some concepts of clinching, such as hole, friction-assisted, laser-assisted, electro-hydraulic, electromagnetically assisted and hot assisted clinching, for the difficult-to-form sheets. The paper includes the description of the deformation mechanism of clinched joints and the analysis of clinched joint performance and applicability.

Research on the mechanical clinching process for the metal–polymer multilayer structure

“…With the wide application of high-strength steel and light metals, the problem of hybrid structural connections in the automotive, aerospace, and construction fields is inevitable [18,19]. The hybrid structures of 5000 series aluminium alloys, high-strength steel, and ultrahigh-strength steel have been explored in depth by Abe et al [20,21] using MC and SPR.…”

Pareto optimal solution set strategy based on multiobjective optimization for the clinching tools

“…Tool size, tool shape, material performance, material combination, and process plan directly affect clinched joint quality. For the connection of different sheets, different process plans can be selected, or different tool combinations can be selected [15][16][17] . Lambiase [18] compared four tool types,namely, round split, round grooved, round flat, and rectangular shear.…”