Lightweight BIW

with
Clinching Technology
Summary:
Public demand for a sustainable use of resources has led to new design criteria for industrial
products. There is an increasing need to design lightweight BIW. Lightweight sheet materials and
suitable joining methods are integral parts of lightweight BIW manufacturing. A full evaluation of
suitable joining techniques and their relative merits should take place prior to sheet materials
selection .Clinching opens new possibilities of joining lightweight sheet materials in the assembly
field of lightweight BIW manufacturing . The uninterrupted action of cold-forming produces the
joint element at the clinched point directly out of the sheet material components. Lightweight
sheet materials normally include low-density metals, such as magnesium and titanium, and
nonmetals, such as plastics and various composites. Metal–metal combinations can be joined by
conventional clinching, but some metal–nonmetal pairs can only be connected by hybrid clinching
or modified clinching.
At present, tools of various designs are available for the forming of joints of this type. In most
cases, a punch and a round solid die with an axially symmetrical profile are used. Other die design
versions make it possible to reduce the joint-forming force to a significant degree. In the article,
attention has been directed to various designs of the dies suitable for such an application and to the
possibility of joining not only metallic materials but also metal and composite combinations. The
possibilities of making hybrid (i.e. glued and clinched) joints have been described as well.

1. Introduction
No vehicles could be designed and manufactured if adequate technologies of as sembling
separable and inseparable joints were unavailable. The joining of individual BIW
components makes it possible to create a spatial structure that could not only meet design
and operation requirements but be also manufactured in a cost-effective way.
The present day form of BIW is a result of many changes that took place for decades in the
development of such vehicles. In the automotive industry, much effort is made to minimize
the consumption of vehicle-powering fuels [1]. In consequence, newer and newer vehicle
body shapes and materials used to manufacture the bodies are appearing (Fig. 1).
The demand for construction materials with raised strength and performance characteristics,
capable of meeting increasingly stringent requirements, is growing from year to year [2].
The dynamic development of new technologies, including material engineering, puts the
automotive industry in a completely new situation. The greatest progress may be observed in
the area of sciences of the technologies and many new materials are appearing. The new
materials, in turn, generate the need to develop new material joining technologies [3-6].

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 Fig. 1. An example of using different construction materials for BIW components: 1 magnesium alloys;
2 aluminium alloys; 3 low-carbon deep-drawing steels; 4 higher-strength steels HSS; 5 high-
strength steels; 6 very high-strength steels; 7 ultrahigh-strength steels

The present-day engineer faces the problem of assembling vehicle components from new materials,
often of different types. These factors define the specificity of the assembly process. It may be
confidently said that the manufacturing of vehicles in the contemporary world actually means
automatized environment-friendly mass production [7]. The today’s production philosophy comes
down to the manufacturing of products in such a way that the environmental impact would be
reduced to a minimum. The “white” (or “sustainable”) assembling technologies are being developed [8,
9]. The process and product innovations bring about specific design and process changes. In result
of increasing pressure on ecological and economic aspects, automotive manufacturers revise their
approach to the use of joining technologies in the manufacturing of parts from new materials (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2. Joining technologies used in the automotive industry

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By 2018, the greatest impact on the development of the automotive industry will be exert-
ed by the actions related to the development and launching of new products and the de-
velopment of new technologies (Fig. 3), according to KPMG's Global Automotive Executive
Survey [10]. In 2010, the use of pressure welding in the automotive industry declined in
favour of laser-beam welding and joining by plastic working, including clinching (Fig. 4) [11].
This is expected by many manufacturers to bring economic benefits.

Fig. 3. Forecasted share of the actions that have an impact on the development of the automotive industry

Fig. 4. Share of individual joining techniques used for the production of BIW:
1 MIG/MAG welding; 2 gas brazing; 3 resistance welding; 4 clinching; 5 laser-beam

(based on: IWU Fraunhofer Institute)

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 2. The method of material joining by clinching

The shaping of a joint of the type under consideration is similar to the press forming:
it is a process of cold forming of a very small area of the sheet metal parts being joined to-
gether, carried out with the use of a punch and die set. Before the joint is actually shaped,
the sheet metal blanks to be joined together are clamped, i.e. pressed against the die
surface (Fig. 5).

Fig. 5. The course of the process of forming a clinched joint and a forming curve at successive process stages

The clamping is to ensure appropriate metal flow during the forming process. The clamp-
ing (blank holding) force can be adjusted by selection of the force-deflection curve of the
elastomer ring or spring (Fig. 6a). During the joining process, the punch is pressed against
the blanks at the joint-forming place. The material is gradually forced into the die impres-
sion until the lower sheet leans against the impression bottom. At that time, the material
begins to fill the free side space between the punch and die. When the free space filling

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is completed, intensive pressing of the sheet impression bottom takes place. At this stage,
a lock is formed by special shaping of the sheet material for the parts to be clinched to-
gether (Fig. 6b). Apart from the geometry and shape of the lock, the structural changes
in  the material of the parts having been clinched have also an impact on the strength
of the joint.

When a round die and punch is used to make the joint, the quality of the latter is consid-
ered acceptable if the cohesion of material of the two sheet metal layers being joined has
not been lost. An exception is the technology variant where a rectangular clinched joint
is made with a notch being intentionally formed along two edges of the joint [12]. Such
a technology allows for somewhat bigger differences in the thickness and material type of
the sheet metal parts to be joined. The clinched joints with a notch show a lower strength
in comparison with round joints formed with the use of solid dies (Fig. 7). Moreover, the use
of unlimited force values results in excessive loads and the loads applied cyclically may
cause damage to the joint-forming tool (Fig. 8).

Fig. 6. Example joint-forming tools (a) and the cross-section of a joint formed with the use of a round solid die
(b): 1 − punch in a blank-holding sleeve with a spring; 2 − elastomer ring of the die with movable segments;
3 − blank-holding elastomer sleeve

Fig. 7. Strength of the joints formed with the use of various tools

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 Fig. 8. Tools for the forming of a clinched joint, withdrawn from service: a) − die; b) − punch

It has already been for quite a long time that an industry’s interest in new solutions in
the field of assembly technology can be observed. This is particularly noticeable for the
automotive industry. In response to a growing demand for lightweight structures of high
strength, technologies of mechanical sheet metal joining under pressure have been com-
prehensively offered. One of them is the “clinching”. The places where joints have been
made by welding technologies (with the material having been melted) constitute potential
sources of corrosion. On the other hand, clinching is less expensive in comparison with
other classic material bonding methods: the clinching costs are lower by 35 % to even 65
% than those of spot welding [1, 13, 14]. The clinching compared with the classic bonding
methods (fusion welding, pressure welding, classic riveting) has a number of good points,
with the most important one being the absence of an additional fastener [15].

The clinching is an effective method of bonding the materials that have different mechani-
cal properties, e.g. plastic materials with hard ones. This requires, however, careful ap-
proach to the selection of a system of material properties of the layers bonded together.
The process parameters, especially the shape and geometry of the tools to be used, must
be individually determined.

The use of clinched joints in the process of assembling vehicle body structures helps to
save time and to eliminate additional actions related to the preparation of the parts for
joining.

By increasing the pressing force and, thus, the thickness of the impression bottom, a high-
er strength of the joint may be obtained [16]. An assembly process that would comprise
clinching operations should be designed to minimize the demand for the work to be done
by the machine and to achieve maximum possible joint strength.

The CL technology is employed in automatized processes of assembling sheet metal

structures. Automotive manufacturers more and more willingly use this solution, thus re-
ducing the time and costs of product assembly processes. Its unquestionable advantages cause
this method to be introduced to the mass production of BIW (Figs. 9 and 10).

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 Fig. 9. Assembly workstations where the clinching technology is used

Fig. 10. Example of the assembly of Audi TT Coupé body components: a) − assembly workstation;
b) − body components assembled with the use of the CL technology

In the European and US markets, there are a dozen or so large manufacturers of dedi-
cated tools and equipment for automatic or manual joining. The solutions available in the
market are offered in modular form, which facilitates the construction of workstations for
the assembly of specific products. There is a wide range of systems driven electrically,
pneumatically and hydraulically. The actuators used in the systems are often provided
with sensors measuring the forming force and coupled with displacement sensors, which
fundamentally facilitates the monitoring and controlling of the process. The designs of the
workstations where the clinching technology is employed include both conventional and
specialized machines. Their technological and engineering advancement level related to
the automatization of delivering, positioning, and receiving of the product processed de-
pends on the number of the parts being joined in a single operation and on the degree of
complication of the product shape. In the case of processing BIW, the machines used are
industrial robots combined with “C-frame” clinching equipment (Fig. 11). Such a solution
is dictated by the necessity of adequate access to the points of joining.

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 Fig. 11. Example designs of frames for industrial robots used for the assembly of BIW:

Stationary presses may be adapted for the forming of clinched joints by providing them
with additional dedicated jigs or multipurpose adapters and tools. Parts with more com-
plicated shapes are joined together on specialized presses designed for being incorpo-
rated in production lines [17]. An example of the application of clinched joints for fixing
a bracket of one of vehicle pedals has been presented in Fig. 12. It should be remem- bered
that the cost of specialized workplaces rapidly increases with rising level of their
automatization.

Fig. 12. Specialized machine for fixing a pedal bracket in a passenger car (a solution adopted by BTM
Corporation)

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In industrial conditions, the correctness of the joint-forming process is verified by moni-
toring the forming force curve (Fig. 13). In the case of an automatized process line, the
process quality is continually checked by control programs.

Fig. 13. Example window of a system to monitor the joint-forming force curve

The development of the material bonding technologies, including the clinching, means the
launching of new engineering solutions aimed at increasing the joint strength. The objec-
tive remains unchanged: to reduce the costs of the existing material bonding technologies
employed in the assembly processes. Any new modifications being introduced are to raise
the strength of the clinched joints compared with those made to the existing solutions.

3. Clinching in automotive applications

Traditionally, resistance welding and fusion welding have been used in the automotive
industry. Welding demands localized heating of the material, which may lead to changes in
the mechanical properties of the materials . When searching for new solutions to replace the
spot welding (SW) process, well known press joining technology capabilities have been
recognized. It is not always possible to achieve the required quality of joints in automotive
industry when classical methods of joining like resistance spot welding and laser brazing
are used. The clinching by stamping is one of these technologies. Although clinching has
been known for many years, only in recent years can increased industrial interest in
clinching be noticed since the technique was successfully applied to complement or even
replace other joining techniques such as, for example, spot welding .
The number of the leading vehicle manufacturers that employ the clinching technology is
growing from year to year.

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– Chevrolet (Epsilon – GMX 353);
– Pontiac (Grand AM);
– Shanghai GM (Cadillac CTS);
– Chrysler (Concord);
– Ford (Mustang);
– Nissan (Altima);
– Toyota (Lexus).

In consideration of their lower mechanical strength in comparison with that of round

clinched joints, the rectangular clinched joints are used for preliminary bonding of vehicle
body components before e.g. laser welding (Fig. 14).

Fig. 14. Rectangular clinched joint used for the preliminary fixing of parts before their final bonding

The manufacturers of parts for the automotive industry increasingly often use this ma-
terial-joining method. At present, many less critical structures are thus made, e.g. door
window lifting linkage (Fig. 15).

Fig. 15. Fragments of a door window lifting linkage: a) − supporting structure; b) − clinched joint, viewed facing
the side formed by the die

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The clinching is practiced in the automotive industry by both the final vehicle manufactur-
ers and the component suppliers. The applications where the clinching is willingly used
to bond sheet metal parts include the components where high strength of a joint is not
required, e.g. exhaust system shields or brackets mounted in the vehicle undercarriage or
engine compartment (Fig. 16) as well as parts made of aluminium alloys, which practically
do not undergo corrosion and are characterized by low weight. In the case of fuel tank
mounting straps, additional reinforcing elements are also used, with such elements being
joined with the straps by e.g. clinching (Fig. 17).

Fig. 16. Protective shield to cover a part of a vehicle exhaust system

Fig. 17. Fuel tank mounting strap

The sheet metal components of BIW are chiefly formed by die shearing, bending, and press
forming. For the sheared blank to be reinforced, it is often subjected to appropri-ate bending
and/or press forming. Finally, the blanks are joined by clinching. The structure thus
obtained (Fig. 18) is stiffened without any increase in its mass.

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 Fig. 18. A fastening portion of a bracket structure installed in the engine compartment

Windscreen wiper motor brackets, rear-view mirror housings, elements to fasten tanks
of various kinds (Fig. 18) as well as structures of more critical importance, such as seat
frames (Fig. 19) or components of the brake pedal supporting structure (Fig. 20) are only
a few selected examples of the vehicle components where clinched joints are used.

Fig. 19. Implementation of clinched joints in the construction of a vehicle seat: a) − seat frame;
b) − seat sliding runner subassembly

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 Fig. 20. Brake pedal supporting structure

The clinching has already found application in the manufacturing of an extremely wide
variety of thin-walled products, e.g. clutch shell made with the use of a system devel-
oped by TOX PRESSOTECHNIK (Fig. 21a) [18] or sunroof components (BTM system, Fig.
21b) [17]. In Volvo XC90, the sunroof (actually, its main supporting structure) comprises
about 60 clinched joints. Another example may be the assembling of a car door structure
from steel sheet and aluminium alloy components (Fig. 22). German manufacturers, e.g.
Mercedes (Fig. 23), have been applying clinched joints since the end years of the last
century.

Fig. 21. Clinched joints: a) − in a clutch shell; b) − in a sunroof component

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 Fig. 22. Steel and aluminium door structure of a Honda motor vehicle

Fig. 23. Clinched joints in a Mercedes C-class: a) − fragment of the bonnet; b) − fragment of the boot lid

Fig. 24. New Fiat 500

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A successful growth in the number of CL joints can be observed in new vehicles.
Such joints have been introduced to vehicle assembly processes by Fiat Chrysler
Automobiles in cooperation with TOX PRESSOTECHNIK. An example is the family of car bod-
ies based on the Fiat 500 platform (Fig. 24). Another example may be the Audi A8 manufac-
tured in Ingolstadt. The number of clinched joints in a car body has already exceeded 200.

4. Potential of clinched joints in the development

of motor vehicle assembly technology
The clinching is a relatively old method of material bonding. The first idea of sheet metal
joining by clinching was developed and the related patent application was submitted in
Germany in 1897 [19]. Then, this method of material bonding sunk into oblivion for many
years. Only as late as from 1980s on, high industry demand for the manufacturing of sheet
metal products forced the preparation of adequately developed assembly systems.

In the production of thin-walled structures, classic joining techniques are used where drill-
ing a hole is not required, e.g. pressure welding, rivet nut installation, or joining with the use
of special screws. However, the special screws are an additional element indispensable
for the joining operation; as regards the pressure welding, it conduces to the formation of
corrosion centres with time at the weld points. The rivet nuts, in turn, considerably raise
the mass of the sheet metal structure. At most of the classic assembly methods, a hole
must be made in the parts involved before they are actually joined and this causes the as-
sembly operation to be more expensive and complicated. However, such methods do not
lead to troubles in the case of new high-strength materials being used for the production.
High-strength steels are used for making vehicle components important for passive safety
(Fig. 25), especially those constituting the crumple zones [20-23]. One of the directions
where the potential of clinched joints may be utilized is the use of such joints in the parts
intended to absorb the impact energy (Fig. 26).

Fig. 25. The B-pillar, made of high-strength steel, of the BMW 3 car

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 Fig. 26. Modelling and crash-testing of the vehicle body structures with clinched joints

At present, the mass percentage of plastics in the vehicle structure is 15-20 %, on the av-
erage [24]. The automotive industry and the cooperating research institutes in the world
intensify their works related to the application of the material-joining method under consid-
eration to plastics and composites (Fig. 27) [25-27]. As can be seen, the joining by clinch-
ing is an area for explorations intended to find new applications for such a technology.

Fig. 27. Clinched joints of steel sheet with: a) − plastic; b) − carbon fibre composite

Glued joints are increasingly often used in vehicle assembly technologies. In the first
constructions of the Volvo V70 models, such joints totalled about 1.5 m, while this figure
has already grown to 35 m in the most recent models. The total length of glued joints is
increasing with each vehicle model being launched. Joints based on adhesives used for
the assembling of sheet metal structures have a considerable share in the products of-
fered by various automotive vehicle manufacturers, as claimed in the advertising materi-
als on the following motor cars:

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– Volvo V70 (1.5 m);
– Mercedes E-class (45 m);
– Mercedes S-class (45 m);
– Audi A4 (50 m);
– BMW 5 (63 m);
– Mercedes CLK (71 m).

A solution that is very interesting and increasingly often applied is the making of hybrid
joints [28, 29]. The hybrid joining of materials by gluing and clinching has gained in impor-
tance for the recent years (Fig. 29). Such a technology combines the good points of the
clinched and glued joints.

Thanks to the use of joints of this kind:

• the stress concentration is reduced and thus the exertion of the structure as a whole
is equalized;
• the strength of the structure and the absorption of the total destruction energy
is raised;
• the structure is made stiffer;
• the air-tightness and resistance of the joint to corrosion is improved;
• the vibration-damping characteristics of the structure are improved.

Fig. 28. Hybrid joint between sheet metal components of the Mercedes S-class body

It is difficult to determine the primacy of one of the constituent joint types over the other in
a combined (hybrid) joint. Their roles depend on the pre-defined operational requirements.
The clinched joint may serve as a stabilizer until the glue layer gains its full adhesive
performance characteristics. Industrial glues have already become available that offer
adhesive bonds of higher strength than the strength of the sheet metal material. However, they
are not widely used because of their excessive cost. In addition to this, the glued joint is a sort
of supple- mentation to a joint of another type. The adhesives and sealing compounds used at the
bonding of BIW components improve the air-tightness of the structure and prevent moisture
from penetrating the empty spaces between the material layers joined together.

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The automotive applications discussed here are only a part of the present-day applica-
tions of modern assembly technologies [30].

5. Recapitulation
Increasingly stringent requirements related to the environmental protection and cost-ef-
fective manufacturing aspects determine the directions of development of vehicle bod- ies,
in particular the constructions and technologies used in vehicle production. In spite of its
drawbacks, the clinching technology is so interesting that it is developed towards the
achieving of its best possible suitability for joining the components of new platforms
of BIW.
In modern BIW, a growing share of clinched joints can be observed, especially as regards the
joints being used in components of less critical importance. Such joints are also more and
more frequently applied to the BIW parts that are impor tant for passive safety. The
spectrum of applications of the joints of this type has not run out yet; most likely, it will
expand towards the joining of composites with steels or alloys based on aluminium and
magnesium.
The clinched joints are so interesting from the point of view of the simplicity of the meth-
od how they are made that new modifications and applications of this technology may
be expected.

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