Effects of factors on physical attributes of self-piercing riveted joints

Abstract

Self-piercing riveting (SPR) as an attractive sheet joining method has been more and more used in various applications. Physical attributes of self-piercing riveted joints are used in industry empirically to assess the qualities of SPR joints. The physical attributes are part of the criteria used to determine whether or not an SPR joint is acceptable. Physical attributes of an SPR joint include bottom thickness, undercut and spread. The relationships between the factors and the physical attributes of SPR joints were discovered in the present paper. Design of experiments (DOE) method was used in the present study. The effects of the different factors upon the physical attributes were investigated. Physical attributes of an SPR joint include bottom thickness, undercut and spread. Analysis of variance (ANOVA), effects analysis and effects plots were employed in this research. © 2006 Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.