Thermo-Mechanical Simulation of Laser Beam Assisted Clinching for High-Strength Steel

Mixed designs made from materials with a wide range of mechanical properties and alloying systems are state of the art in automotive bodies for reducing weight while improving simultaneously performance characteristics and collision safety. Laser assisted clinching is an innovative joining processes for high-strength steels in combination with other materials, such as joints between press hardened steel 22MnB5 and the aluminium alloy EN AW‑6016. The short-time heat treatment of martensitic microstructure by targeted application of the laser energy leads to a sufficient ductility and softening for clinching. For optimising the use of the laser, for example the process window for laser beam activation or laser feed-through in the clinching tool, a finite element model as a thermo-mechanical simulation was developed by the commercial software MSC.Marc. The characterization of the transformation behaviour of materials during the laser treatment for the development of a material model have been performed by dilatometer respectively calorimeter experiments. The mechanical properties of both materials during a short-time heat treatment were investigated by thermo-mechanical analysis in a deformation dilatometer. The results, which were determined numerically, were verified via experiments.