Abstract
Mechanical joining techniques, such as clinch joining and self-piercing riveting, has a long term history in the manufacturing industry in general. However, they were not introduced in car body manufacturing until the end of the 1980Õs, which means that the potential of these energy savings and environmental friendly techniques, have not yet been fully explored.
For the first Body-in-White applications, spot welds were substituted by clinch joints, merely in order to reduce the assembly cost. But due to an extensive development work among automotive manufacturers and the suppliers of mechanical joining systems, we can now see examples where these techniques are considered in order to improve the structural performance of the car body.
In regard to the increasing specification of new lightweight body materials, such as various aluminium alloys and polymers, a holistic design approach must be used when selecting the appropriate joining methods. Clinch joining and self-piercing riveting are natural candidates in such a scenario, as they are superior when it comes to the joining of dissimilar materials.
This paper will present the state-of-art concerning the utilization of mechanical joining methods for car body assembly at Volvo, with detailed explanation of some applications now running in high volume series production. The content includes the following items:
- A review of some early examples of successful applications
- Latest research work, including the joining of polymers to coated steels and aluminium, as well as some relevant process simulation activities
- Cost rationalizing of a roof header assembly by the introduction of clinch joining
- Quality improvement of a radiator cross-member by using self-piercing rivets
- Future outlook and forecast