CLINCHING HOT-DIP GALVANIZED STEEL COMBINED WITH ALUMINIUM ALLOY

Combination of steel sheets and aluminium alloys in components are widely used in various industrial areas because of their high performance. At times it is not possible to join this material combination utilizing conventional joining techniques, especially welding methods, therefore other alternative techniques are developed. One of the alternatives are mechanical clinching as a cold joining process. The paper evaluates the properties of clinched joints. The following materials utilized in automotive industry in car body production were used in the joining process: hot-dip galvanized steel sheet H220PD (thickness of 0.8 mm) and aluminium alloys EN AW 5754 (0.8 mm). The following tests were performed to evaluate the properties of the clinched joints: tension test - to determine the load bearing capacities and the force-elongation diagrams; microhardness test - to determine the changes in the materials joined by clinching; and a metallographic analysis observing the clinched joints' structures. Clinching proved to be suitable methods for joining the observed combination of hot-dip galvanized steel and aluminium alloy.