Static and dynamic testing and modelling of aluminium joints with flow-drill screw connections

A new component test suited for quasi-static and dynamic testing of flow-drill screw connections is presented. The component specimen was made of two different aluminium alloys, and included connections with two material combinations. Large-scale finite element simulations were carried out of each test, in which the connections were modelled with a constraint-based macroscopic model. An improvement of the connection modelling technique is presented. The model was calibrated to cross tension, cross mixed and single lap-joint tests, and validated with peeling and the component tests.