Through Process Modelling of Self-Piercing Riveting

Self-piercing riveting is a relatively new process for joining sheet metals in automotive structures. Information obtained from the riveting process simulation can lead to an improvement in the process design achieving reduction in cost and improvement in the quality of the joint. The process data can also be used to set initial parameters for a 3D simulation of the self-piercing rivet connection under combined tensile and shear loading conditions. Comparison of the results from the 3D simulation with experimental data will give a further proof of the quality of the self-piercing riveting process simulation and a better understanding of the behaviour of the connector. Such information can then lead to an improvement of a numerical model of self-piercing riveted joints using shell elements in crash analysis. In this paper, simulations of the self-piercing riveting process using LS-DYNA are presented. An implicit solution technique with r-adaptivity has been used. The advantages and the limits of using r-adaptivity in this class of metal forming process are discussed. In addition, parametric studies on important parameters for the forming process, i.e. friction, mesh size and failures criteria are presented. Finally, the mapping of data, the 3D simulation of the rivet specimen and the comparison with experimental results are presented.