Joining by plastic deformation

As the scale and complexity of products such as aircraft and cars increase, demand for new functional processes to join mechanical parts grows. The use of plastic deformation for joining parts potentially offers improved accuracy, reliability and environmental safety as well as creating opportunities to design new products through joining dissimilar materials. This paper aims to provide an overview of the state of the art in such joining processes, including cold welding, friction stir welding, self-pierce riveting, mechanical clinching and joining by forming. The paper includes description of the mechanism of joint formation, and analysis of joint performance and applicability.