Developing a self-piercing riveting with flange pipe rivet joining aluminum sheets

This paper proposes a self-piercing riveting (SPR) method which uses a flange pipe rivet. This joining technology can solve the problems of oblique rivet and incorrect rivet position which are usually found in the SPR with a pipe rivet. The lap shear strength of the joint with a flange pipe rivet is higher than that of a joint with a conventional rivet. In this research, a flange pipe rivet was placed between two sheets with a force applied to the top sheet by a punch riveting machine. The flange pipe rivet moved downward along with the top sheet to induce appropriate bending and form a mechanical interlock in both sheets. Finite element (FE) analysis of the SPR with a flange pipe rivet was done by DEFORM software. The simulated joint cross-section shapes were observed, and the influence of the flange pipe rivet parameters on joint quality was analyzed. Simultaneously, some riveting experiments on joining aluminum sheets were conducted taking into consideration different rivet heights and chamfer angles. The results show that the joining surface is smooth and the simulated joint cross-section shapes are in good agreement with the experimental results. The joining property with a chamfer angle of 45° and a rivet height of 5 mm is found to be the best in joining the Al6063 aluminum alloy sheets with a thickness of 2.4 mm by using the SPR with a flange pipe rivet.