Clinching and Clinch-Riveting as a Green Alternative to Resistance Spot Welding

The automotive industry meets the requirements for increased safety, the regulations regarding environmental protection, and the requests of car drivers for more luxury features as well. Steel is the most essential material for car body production in the automotive industry. Hot-dip galvanizing is a standard procedure utilized to protect steels from corrosive environments. But low melting and boiling points of zinc create undesirable effects due to its evaporation during welding and formation of pores or cracks. The weld nuggets with sufficient quality made on galvanized steel sheets are realized by using longer weld times, higher electrode forces and higher welding currents. These increased values of welding parameters result in an increase in energy costs. Consequently, mechanical joining, especially clinching and clinch-riveting, has attracted more and more attention. The properties of the spot welded joints and the mechanical joints such as the clinched joints and the clinch-riveted joints of hot-dip galvanized steel sheets H220PD and DX51D were evaluated. The properties and quality of the joints were evaluated by the tensile test and the metallographic observation.