Numerical and experimental study on failure behavior of steel-aluminium mechanical clinched joints under multiple test conditions

In this work, the numerical and experimental study was performed to explore the mechanical properties and failure behavior of steel-aluminium mechanical clinched joints under multiple test conditions. The stress distribution of the clinched joints and the failure mode were analyzed using finite element analysis software ABAQUS. The Gurson-Tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) model was used to simulate damage and failure of the joints. The experimental tests were conducted for the verification. It was found that the clinched joints under shear condition had a peak force of 4354N, which was much higher than that of the peel (624N) and cross tensile (1046N) conditions, while the peak load displacement and failure displacement have the opposite law. The failure mode of shear condition was neck fracture, while that of tensile and peel conditions were both pulling out failure. The finite element simulation results were in good agreement with the experimental ones and the failure mode was consistent. The Gurson-tvergaard-Needleman (GTN) model can accurately predict the mechanical properties and failure mode of clinched joints. Keywords: Steel-aluminium mechanical clinching, Mechanical properties, Damage model, Finite element simulatio