Mechanical Properties and Fracture Analysis of Clinched Joints in Titanium Sheet Materials

Mechanical fastening techniques are used extensively in different industry fields for joining various materials in the assembly of components and structures. The use of mechanical clinching is of interest to different industries such as aerospace, automotive, packaging and domestic appliance. This, together with increasing use of light-weight materials, has produced a significant increase in the use of mechanical clinching in light-weight structures in recent years. This paper deals with the mechanical properties and fracture analysis of extensible die clinched joints in the dissimilar metal sheets combinations of titanium sheet material and aluminum sheet material. Tensile-shear tests were carried out to characterize the mechanical properties of different clinched joints made of the dissimilar metal sheets combinations. The normal hypothesis tests were performed to examine the rationality of the test data. The load-bearing capacity and failure modes of different titanium sheets clinched joints were studied. Results showed that most titanium sheets clinched joints failed in the neck fracture mode. Results also showed that the load-bearing capacity of clinch joints with titanium as upper sheets is higher than that of the clinched joints with titanium as lower sheets.