Experimental and numerical investigation of the influence of multiaxial loading conditions on the failure behavior of clinched joints

Destructive testing methods are used to determine the joint characteristics of mechanical joining technologies by testing the joints under different types of loads. In real load cases, however, combined loading conditions arise in complex structures that cannot be investigated experimentally at present. The objective of this study is to adapt a so-called L-specimen geometry for mechanical joints to introduce combined peel and shear tensile loading, taking into account plastic pre-deformation of the joined parts. A new specimen geometry is presented to investigate three different clinched joints using different materials, namely HCT590X as well as EN AW-6014 T4. The load capacity behavior, as well as the failure behavior, is analyzed based on failure modes for pure shear, pure peel, and combined loading. Furthermore, the L-specimen is investigated by numerical simulation and compared with the experimental results.