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Advanced Joining Technologies for Automotive Lightweight Structures
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Advanced Joining Technologies for Automotive Lightweight Structures

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Manufacturing Processes and Systems".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 February 2023) | Viewed by 4108

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Yan Huang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
BCAST, Brunel University London, Uxbridge UB8 3PH, UK
Interests: light metals and alloys; metal matrix composites; biomaterials; solidification; thermomecchanical processing; severe plastic deformation; recrystallization; textures; grain boundaries

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

High-strength aluminium alloys are increasingly used in the automotive industry, in combination with high-strength steels, polymers and composites, in order to meet the demand for lightweight high-strength structures for more fuel-efficient vehicles and electric vehicles with superior crash protection. Accordingly, there has been a shift in joining techniques, from spot welding to hybrid joining approaches. This Special Issue aims to offer a forum for exchange in fundamental understanding and technological advances in automotive lightweight structure joining solutions, among worldwide academics, research scientists and expert automotive engineers, with a focus on aluminium alloys and their joining with steel and polymers. The scope covers physical experiments, joint design, characterization and assessment, and process simulation and optimization on the following key joining technologies:

  • Solid state joining methods—friction stir welding (FSW), self-piercing riveting (SPR), and magnetic pulse welding (MPW), etc.
  • Fusion welding and resistance welding—laser beam welding (LBW), electron beam welding (EBW), cold metal transfer (CMT) welding, resistance spot welding, etc.
  • Hybrid joining methods and adhesive bonding.

In addition, all aspects of research, development and applications relating to the joining of automotive lightweight structures are welcome.

Dr. Yan Huang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • lightweight structures
  • automotive manufacturing
  • joining technologies
  • solid state joining
  • fusion welding
  • resistance welding
  • hybrid joining
  • adhesive bonding

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

14 pages, 5220 KiB  
Article
Investigation into the Effect of Interlock Volume on SPR Strength
by Lewis Jepps, Paul Briskham, Neil Sims and Luca Susmel
Materials 2023, 16(7), 2747; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16072747 - 29 Mar 2023
Viewed by 974
Abstract
During the design of automotive structures assembled using Self-Piercing Rivets (SPRs), a rivet and die combination is selected for each joint stack. To conduct extensive physical tensile testing on every joint combination to determine the range of strength achieved by each rivet–die combination, [...] Read more.
During the design of automotive structures assembled using Self-Piercing Rivets (SPRs), a rivet and die combination is selected for each joint stack. To conduct extensive physical tensile testing on every joint combination to determine the range of strength achieved by each rivet–die combination, a great deal of lab technician time and substrate material are required. It is much simpler and less material-consuming to select the rivet and die solution by examining the cross sections of joints. However, the current methods of measuring cross sections by measuring the amount of mechanical interlock in a linear X–Y direction, achieved with the flared rivet tail, do not give an accurate prediction of joint strength, because they do not measure the full amount of material that must be defeated to pull the rivet tail out of the bottom sheet. The X–Y linear interlock measurement approach also makes it difficult to rapidly rank joint solutions, as it creates two values for each cross section rather than a single value. This study investigates an innovative new measurement method developed by the authors called Volumelock. The approach measures the volume of material that must be defeated to pull out the rivet. Creating a single measurement value for each rivet–die combination makes it much easier to compare different rivet and die solutions; to identify solutions that work well across a number of different stacks; to aid the grouping of stacks on one setter for low-volume line; and to select the strongest solutions for a high-volume line where only one or two different stacks are made by each setter. The joint stack results in this paper indicate that there is a good predictive relationship between the new Volumelock method and peel strength, measured by physical cross-tension testing. In this study, the Volumelock approach predicted the peel strength within a 5% error margin. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Joining Technologies for Automotive Lightweight Structures)
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17 pages, 29274 KiB  
Article
Effect of Beam Oscillation on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Electron Beam Welded EN25 Steel
by Vasundhara Singh, Prakash Srirangam and Gour Gopal Roy
Materials 2023, 16(7), 2717; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16072717 - 29 Mar 2023
Viewed by 1132
Abstract
EN25 steels have been found to be applicable in shafts, gears, etc., but welding of EN25 steel was performed using electron beam welding with different oscillation beam diameters varying from 2 mm to 0.5 mm. The present study reports the effect of beam [...] Read more.
EN25 steels have been found to be applicable in shafts, gears, etc., but welding of EN25 steel was performed using electron beam welding with different oscillation beam diameters varying from 2 mm to 0.5 mm. The present study reports the effect of beam oscillation on the evolution of nonmetallic inclusions, microstructures, and mechanical properties of EN25 steel. Heat input calculations showed that the application of beam oscillations resulted in significantly lower heat inputs compared to their non-oscillating counterparts. The highest fraction of the retained austenite (9.35%) was observed in a weld prepared with beam oscillation at a 2-mm oscillation diameter, and it decreased to 3.27% at an oscillating diameter of 0.5 mm, and it further reduced to 0.36% for non-oscillating beam cases. Residual stresses were compressive in the fusion zone, irrespective of beam oscillation. Beam oscillation resulted in equiaxed grain in the recenter region of the fusion zone, attributed to heat mixing and the evolution of random texture. The application of beam oscillations resulted in a significant decrease in the size of the nonmetallic inclusions to 0.1–0.5 compared to 5–20 mm in base metal. All tensile samples failed in the base metal, indicating good strength of the weld. Fusion zone hardness (250–670 HNV) and wear properties (COF 0.7 to COF 0.45) improved irrespective of with and without beam oscillation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Joining Technologies for Automotive Lightweight Structures)
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13 pages, 28096 KiB  
Article
Effect of Weld Length on Strength, Fatigue Behaviour and Microstructure of Intersecting Stitch-Friction Stir Welded AA 6016-T4 Sheets
by Dominik Walz, Robin Göbel, Martin Werz and Stefan Weihe
Materials 2023, 16(2), 533; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16020533 - 05 Jan 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1441
Abstract
Friction stir welding is a promising joining process for boosting lightweight construction in the industrial and automotive sector by enabling the weldability of high-strength aluminum alloys. However, the high process forces usually result in large and heavy equipment for this joining method, which [...] Read more.
Friction stir welding is a promising joining process for boosting lightweight construction in the industrial and automotive sector by enabling the weldability of high-strength aluminum alloys. However, the high process forces usually result in large and heavy equipment for this joining method, which conflicts with flexible application. In order to circumvent this issue, a friction stir welding gun has been developed which is capable of producing short stitch welds—either stand-alone as an alternative to spot welds or merging into each other appearing like a conventional friction stir weld. In this study, the influence of the stitch seam length on the strength properties of intersecting friction stir welds is investigated, and the weld is characterized. For this purpose, EN AW-6016 T4 sheets were welded in butt joint configuration with varying stitch lengths between 2 and 15 mm. Both the static and dynamic strength properties were investigated, and hardness and temperature measurements were carried out. The results show a scalability of the tensile strength as well as the fatigue strength over the stitch seam length, while the substitute proof strength is not affected. Hereby, the tensile strength reached up 80% of the base materials tensile strength with the chosen parameter setup. Likewise, the stitch weld length influences the hardness characteristics of the welds in the transition area. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Joining Technologies for Automotive Lightweight Structures)
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