Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 48:607–612

DOI 10.1007/s00170-009-2306-2

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Recent development in finite element analysis

of clinched joints
Xiaocong He

Received: 17 June 2009 / Accepted: 8 September 2009 / Published online: 26 September 2009
# Springer-Verlag London Limited 2009

Abstract Clinching is a high-speed mechanical fastening extrusions by localized cold forming of materials. The
technique for point joining of sheet materials. Published result is an interlocking friction joint between two or more
work relating to finite element analysis of clinched joints is layers of material formed by a punch into a special die.
reviewed in this paper, in terms of process, strength, and Depending on the tooling sets used, clinched joints can be
vibration characteristics of the clinched joints. It is made with or without the need for cutting. By using a round
concluded that the finite element analysis of clinched joints tool type, materials are only deformed. If a square tool is
will help future applications of clinching by allowing used, however, both deformation and cutting of materials
system parameters to be selected to give as large a process are required. The principle of clinching with a round tool
window as possible for successful joint manufacture. This [2] is given in Fig. 1.
will allow many tests to be simulated that would currently Though the first patent related to the clinching was
take too long to perform or be prohibitively expensive in granted as early as 1897 [3], it is only in the last 30 years
practice. that the technology of the clinching has significantly
progressed. Several car manufacturers employ this technique
Keywords Clinching . Sheet material . in assembly lines. Audi AG has installed a robot from Kuka
Finite element analysis . Process simulation . Robotics Corp. and a robotic clinching unit to cut down on
Mechanical behavior cycle times. The system is flexible and reliable, even when
faced with large production runs. The electromechanical servo
drive makes it possible to join panels with different
1 Introduction thicknesses using just one robotic gun. The most recent
example of clinch technology at work is the Mercedes–Benz
In recent years, lightweight construction strategies have S-class (W221) that incorporates more clinch elements in
become increasingly important for economic reasons and in body manufacture in mass production than ever before with
terms of environmental protection. Some mechanical 658 clinch connections. From the beginning, the development
joining techniques have been developed for joining ad- of clinch technology has been accompanied by scientific
vanced lightweight materials that are dissimilar, coated, and research such as at University of Paderborn [e.g., 4–10],
hard to weld [1]. Clinching has also been developed rapidly University of Edinburgh [e.g., 11–17], and Lappeenranta
into a new branch of mechanical joining techniques. The University of Technology [e.g., 18–23].
clinching process is a method of joining sheet metal or In the design of mechanical structures which contain
clinched joints, the information of these joints is essential.
Consequently, the knowledge of the clinched joints has
X. He (*) been the subject of a considerable amount of experimental
Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre, and numerical studies. An automatic real-time clinching
Faculty of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering,
quality control system was developed and presented mainly
Kunming University of Science and Technology,
Kunming 650093, People’s Republic of China during 1990s [24–26]. Another online clinching quality
e-mail: hhxxcc@yahoo.co.uk control system was introduced by Eckold in 1994 [27]. The
608 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 48:607–612

fill, distribution of strains, strain rate and stresses in the

material, distribution of pressure at die–material interface,
and the influence of properties like friction. The resolution
of such problems is confronted with numerous nonlinear
problems such as large deformations, material plasticity,
and contact interactions. Several numerical techniques can
be used for the simulation of such problems (dynamic or
static implicit and explicit methods) and different industrial
software (ABAQUS, ADINA, LS-DYNA 3D, and MARC)
Fig. 1 The principle of clinching with a round tool [2]
already allows the simulation of the clinch forming process
[30]. Figure 2 shows the original and deformed structure of
process monitoring systems are able to distinguish between a clinched joint [31].
accidental and systematic process errors and can, therefore, A numerical and experimental optimization of the
keep unnecessary plant stops to a minimum and ensure high clinching process has been presented by Ippolito et al.
levels of plant availability [28]. Gao and Budde [29] have [32, 33]. In particular, a factorial experimental plan of FEM
conducted a study on the joining mechanism of clinching. simulations has been carried out in order to build a base of
Some basic terms, such as the mechanical contact chains knowledge in terms of tools' shape and mechanical and
and their symbols and the joint networks, were introduced geometrical characteristics of clinched joints. Based on
to establish a basic theory for analyzing the joining these numerical results, optimal values of the considered
mechanism. A comparison studies between round and variables have been found by means of a regression
square clinching tools for high-strength sheet metals have analysis with the goal of maximizing the mechanical
been conducted by Varis [20]. In another work, Varis properties of the joints.
pointed out several problems encountered in the long-term A finite element procedure with automatic remeshing
use of a clinching process and both the lack of systematic technique has been developed by Hamel et al. [34, 35] to
maintenance, and continuous follow-up are discussed [23]. specifically simulate the clinching process. The resolution of
Pedreschi and Sinha [17] conducted an experimental study the updated Lagrangian formulation is based on a static
of cold-formed steel trusses using mechanical clinching and explicit approach. The integration of the elastic–plastic
found that the number of clinches has a marked influence on behavior law is realized with a Simo and Taylor algorithm,
the strength, deformation, and failure mode of the trusses. and the contact conditions are insured by a penalty method.
The mechanical behavior of clinched joints is not only The results are compared with experimental data and
influenced by the geometry of the joint but also by the numerical results calculated with a static implicit method.
process parameters. The complex joint geometry and its Lepistö et al. [36] have successfully shown the accuracy of
three dimensional nature combine to increase the difficulty FE analysis while carefully verifying the material properties
of obtaining an overall system of governing equations for and friction coefficients. The paper of Bhalerao et al. [37]
predicting the mechanical properties of the clinched joints. presented a survey of some of the approaches available in
For limited cases, simple equations for calculating the ABAQUS and discussed various applications of these
strength of clinched joint or several joints have been techniques through a series of case studies.
generated by Pedreschi et al. [11–13]. But means to Based on the elastic–plastic FE theory, Yang et al. [38]
determine the strength of the clinched joints by calculations developed an ANSYS FE model for simulating clinching
has proven to be case and material specific. To overcome process. The effects of the die parameters and sheets
these problems, the finite element (FE) method is frequently thickness combinations on the interlock and neck thickness
used. Published work relating to finite element analysis of were investigated. Finite element simulations were also
clinched joints is reviewed in this paper, in terms of process, carried out by Mori et al. [39] for clinching processes of
strength, and vibration characteristics of the clinched joints. A high-strength steel and aluminum alloy sheets.
few important modeling issues are discussed as well. A new clinching process, namely flat clinching, has been
introduced by Borsellino et al. [40]. After a press clinching
process, the joined sheets have been deformed by a punch
2 Clinching process with a lower diameter against a flat die. In this way, a new
configuration is created with a geometry that has no
To fully understand the behavior of clinched joints, the FE discontinuity on the bottom surface. Tensile tests have
model must include all the information from the clinching been done to compare the joints strength among the various
process. The information that can be obtained from the clinching processes. A finite element analysis has been
process simulation includes: metal flow and details of die performed to optimize the process.
Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 48:607–612 609

Fig. 2 Original and deformed

structure (punch stroke
2.50 mm) of a clinched
joint [31]

Neugebauer et al. [41–43] presented another new found that the MARC software is quite suitable for this
clinching method, namely dieless clinching, that works kind of analysis due to its easy contact definition.
with a flat anvil as a counter tool, thus offering important The work of Carboni et al. [2] focused on a deeper study
benefits for the joining of magnesium. Dieless clinching of the mechanical behavior of clinching in terms of static,
allows mechanical joining of magnesium materials with fatigue, and residual strength tests after fatigue damage.
very short process times because components are heated in Fractographic observations showed three different failure
less than 3 s. Deformation simulations with DEFORM were modes whose occurrence depends on the maximum applied
used to study the impact that modified punch geometry load and on the stress ratio. Results were supported by
parameters have on dieless-clinched connections of various FEM analyses showing that the failure regions of the
combinations of materials and component thicknesses. clinched joints correspond to those with high stress
The information obtained from the process can not only concentrations.
lead to an improvement in die and process design achieving Jomaa et al. [45–47] carried out numerical analysis of
reduction in cost and improvement in the quality of the the resistance of clinched assemblies of thin metal sheets. A
products but also be used to set initial parameters for a simplified procedure was proposed to identify the fracture
numerical model of the clinched joints used in further initiation and propagation models that are used to simulate
mechanical property studies such as static and fatigue this failure process. This identification process is based on
analysis, crash analysis, and assembly dimensional prediction Lemaitre's ductile damage model.
etc. De Paula et al. [48] carried out finite element simulations
of the clinch joining of metallic sheets. The simulations
covered the effect of these changes on the joint undercut
3 Strength of clinched joints and neck thickness. The relevant geometrical aspects of the
punch/die set were determined, and the importance of an
The strength of the clinching has been compared with other adequate undercut on the joint strength was confirmed.
joining techniques, such as self-pierce riveting and spot In the paper of Coppieters et al. [49], the optimal
welding by researchers [e.g., 15, 44]. Although the static geometry for a certain application has been investigated
strength of clinched joints is lower than that of other joints,
but the fatigue strength of clinched joints is comparable to
that of other joints, and the strength of the clinched joints is
more consistent with a significantly lower variation across a
range of samples [15]. Figure 3 compares the fatigue
behavior of different joining techniques [44].
Varis and Lepistö [31] proposed a procedure to select an
appropriate combination of clinching tools, so that the
maximum load under shearing test could be obtained. The
calculations considered the final bottom thickness of
the joint and the height of the bent area, for each of the
analyzed tool combinations. Finite element simulations
were performed in order to verify the procedure, although
both methods can be used either separately or together to Fig. 3 Fatigue behavior comparison of clinching, spot-weld, and SPR
establish optimal clinching parameters. The study also joints [44]
610 Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 48:607–612

with finite element simulations. The authors shown what were calculated for different combinations of the substrates'
are the difficulties encountered in the simulations and how Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio.
they can be overcome in order to have a reliable simulation By means of a parametric analysis, the influence of the
tool to predict the experimental strength of new types of Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the lightweight
connections. sheet material substrates on the natural frequencies, natural
Oudjene et al. dealt systematically with clinching tools frequency ratios, and mode shapes of the single lap-jointed
geometry optimization [50, 51]. A parametrical study, encastre clinched joints is deduced. Numerical examples
based on the Taguchi's method, has been conducted to showed that the natural frequencies increase significantly as
properly study the effects of tools geometry on the clinch the Young's modulus of the substrates increased, but very
joint resistance as well as on its shape. The separation of little change is encountered for change in the substrates'
the sheets is simulated using ABAQUS/Explicit in order to Poisson's ratio. The mode shapes showed that there were
evaluate the resistance of clinch joints. In a recent study different deformations in the jointed section of clinched
[52], a response surface methodology, based on Moving joints compared to the reference beam (beam without joint).
Least-Square approximation and adaptive moving region of These different deformations may cause different natural
interest, is presented for shape optimization of clinching tools. frequency values and different stress distributions. Figure 4
The geometries of both the punch and the die are optimized to shows the first eight transverse mode shapes of the single
improve the joints resistance to tensile loading. lap-joint encastre clinched joint corresponding to material
Poisson's ratio 0.33, Young's modulus 70 GPa, and density
2700 kg/m3 [53].
4 Vibration behavior of clinched joints It can be seen from Fig. 4 that the amplitudes of
vibration at the midlength of the joints are different for the
Despite these impressive developments in finite element odd and even modes. For the odd modes (1, 3, 5, and 7),
analysis of process and strength behavior of the clinched symmetry is seen about the midlength position. At these
joints, unfortunately, research in the area of vibration positions, the amplitudes of transverse free vibration are
properties of the clinched joints is relatively unexplored. It is about equal to the peak amplitude. Thus, the geometry of
believed that the clinched joints act to augment the system the lap joint is very important and has a very significant
damping capacity. Recent work by the present author and effect on the dynamic response of the lap-jointed encastre
coworkers investigated in detail the free vibration character- clinched joints. Conversely, for the even modes 2, 4, 6, and
istics of single lap-joint encastre clinched joints [53]. The 8, antisymmetry is seen about the midlength position, and
focus of the analysis was to reveal the influence on the the amplitude of transverse free vibration at this position is
natural frequencies and mode shapes of the characteristics of approximately zero. Hence, variations in the structure of the
the substrates. These investigations were performed by lap joint have relatively less effect on the dynamic response
means of the 3D FE analysis (ANSYS Ltd). In order to of the lap-jointed encastre clinched joints. This data will
obtain the sophisticated features such as design optimization enable appropriate choice of the mechanical properties of
and ANSYS Parametric Design Language that were used in the substrates, especially Young's modulus, in order to
the analysis, the natural frequencies (eigenvalues) and mode achieve and maintain a satisfactory level of both static and
shapes (eigenvectors) of the free vibration of these joints dynamic integrity of the clinching structures.

Fig. 4 First eight transverse

mode shapes of the single
lap-jointed encastre clinched Mode 1 (253.9 Hz) Mode 2 (843.9 Hz)
joint [53]

Mode 3 (1507.0 Hz) Mode 4 (2465.8 Hz)

Mode 5 (3790.4 Hz) Mode 6 (5023.1 Hz)

Mode 7 (7135.2 Hz) Mode 8 (8557.8 Hz)

Int J Adv Manuf Technol (2010) 48:607–612 611

5 Summary 13. Davies R, Pedreschi RF, Sinha BP (1996) The shear behavior of
press-joining in cold-formed steel structures. Thin-Walled Struct
25(3):153–170
The clinching technique has become an increasingly 14. Davies R, Pedreschi RF, Sinha BP (1997) Moment-rotation
popular alternative to traditional spot welding due to the behavior of groups of press-joins in cold-formed steel structures.
growing use of alternative materials which are difficult or Thin-Walled Struct 27(3):203–222
15. Lennon R, Pedreschi R, Sinha BP (1999) Comparative study of
impossible to weld. However, accurate and reliable modeling
some mechanical connections in cold formed steel. Constr Build
of the clinched joint is still a difficult task as the mechanical Mater 13(3):109–116
behavior of these joints is not only influenced by the 16. Pedreschi R, Sinha B (2006) Predicting the shear strength of
geometric characteristics of the joint but also by the process mechanical clinching in cold-formed steel structures. J Mater Civ
Eng 18(3):435–442
parameters. A literature survey on the FEA of clinched joints 17. Pedreschi RF, Sinha BP (2008) An experimental study of cold
has shown a very limited number of relevant articles. In this formed steel trusses using mechanical clinching. Constr Build
paper, the research and progress in FEA of clinched joints are Mater 22(5):921–931
critically reviewed from different perspectives. It is concluded 18. Varis J (1997) Ohutlevyjen Puristusliittäminen (Clinching of sheet
metals), Federation of Finnish Metal, Engineering and Electro-
that the FEA of clinched joints will help future applications of
technical Industries, MET, Helsinki, pp 55 (in Finnish)
clinching by allowing system parameters to be selected to give 19. Varis J (2000) A novel procedure for establishing clinching
as large a process window as possible for joint manufacture. parameters for high strength steel sheet. Dissertation, Acta Uni-
This will allow many tests to be simulated that would versitatis Lappeenrantaensis, vol 105, Lappeenranta University of
Technology, Finland, 84 pp, ISBN 951-764-490-6, ISSN 1456–4491
currently take too long to perform or be prohibitively
20. Varis JP (2002) The suitability of round clinching tools for high
expensive in practice, such as modifications to die assembly strength structural steel. Thin-Walled Struct 40(3):225–238
geometry or material properties. The main goal of the paper is 21. Varis JP (2003) The suitability of clinching as a joining method
to review recent progress in FEA of clinched joints and to for high-strength structural steel. J Mater Process Technol 132
(1–3):242–249
provide a basis for further research. 22. Varis JP (2006) Economics of clinched joint compared to riveted
joint and example of applying calculations to a volume product. J
Mater Process Technol 172(1):130–138
23. Varis JP (2006) Ensuring the integrity in clinching process. J
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