Modeling the Failure Behavior of Self-Piercing Riveting Joints of 6xxx Aluminum Alloy

Self-piercing riveting (SPR) is a mechanical joining process which is applied for joining similar and dissimilar lightweight materials in modern car body manufacturing. For qualifying SPR joints, cross sections must be investigated with respect to predefined quality features. Thus, numerous tests must be carried out in order to determine the maximum load capacity of SPR joints for different load angles. The growing number of materials used for the body-in-white requires a reliable and time efficient routine for predicting the joining behavior and the load capacity of SPR joints. In this study, the load capacity of three SPR joints was investigated numerically and experimentally using so-called KS2 samples. The results of axisymmetric two-dimensional finite element simulations (Hönsch et al in J Phys Conf Ser 1063:1-6, 2018) are the basis for three-dimensional simulations of the destructive testing procedure. The experimental setup of destructive testing was modeled using the FE software Simufact Forming 15. The numerically determined load capacity was validated with experimental data. Comparing the failure modes and the force–displacement curves revealed good agreement of simulations and experiments. Therefore, the presented simulation is a powerful tool for predicting the behavior of SPR joints under different load cases.