Mechanical clinching of ultra-high strength steel sheets and strength of joints

• Ultra-high strength steel sheets were joined by mechanical clinching with dies for control of metal flow.
• Static load of clinched joint was smaller than that of resistance spot welded joint.
• Fatigue load of clinched joint was larger in large number of cycles.

Ultra-high strength steel sheets having low ductility were joined by mechanical clinching with dies for control of metal flow. The diameter and depth of the die were modified to relieve concentration of deformation of the sheets for avoidance of the occurrence of sheet fracture. As the tensile strength of the steel sheets increased, the interlock decreased due to small metal flow. Two kinds of the ultra-high strength steel sheets having different ductility were used. The ultra-high strength steel sheets having large ductility were successfully joined using die having modified shape, whereas the sheets having small ductility were not joined. The static and fatigue strengths of the mechanically clinched joint were compared with those of the resistance spot welded joint. Although the static load of the mechanically clinched joint was smaller than that of the resistance spot welded joint in both tension-shearing and cross-tension tests, the fatigue load of the clinched joint was larger in the large number of cycles. It was found that mechanical clinching has superior fatigue strength due to the large yield stress of the sheets and relaxation of the stress concentration.