An experimental study on clinched joints realized with different dies

An experimental investigation has been conducted on mechanically clinched joints, produced withfixed and extensible dies with different forming forces. Mechanical testing involving single lap shear tests, both with one and two joining points, and peeling tests were conducted under quasi-static conditions to assess the different mechanical behaviors of these joints. The effect of the processing conditions on the main mechanical response of the joints, namely the maximum strength, stiffness and absorbed energy, was investigated. The results showed that the joints produced with the extensible die exhibited a similar strength as compared to those produced with thefixed die in single lap shear tests, while they are characterized by a higher strength (up to 40%) when loaded during the peeling test because of a larger interlock. In addition, the employment of extensible dies allows a drastic reduction of the forming loads as compared to those required by adopting thefixed dies.