Application of Mechanical Clinching Method to Aluminum Hood

A new joining method has been attempted in aluminum hood application to join steel reinforcements to aluminum inner panel. This method, Tox mechanical clinching(TMC), offers the best cost performance and productivity among several joining methods. This paper was focused on the practical understanding of TMC method and its applicability to aluminum hood manufacture. The results of this study showed that design by the TMC could be much easier than that by resistant spot welding(RSW) because TMC produced very reliable and consistent joint strength at the multipoint situation. The only drawback of this method was the low joint strength due to very small joint area. In order to maintain similar joint strength as that of steel hood welded by RSW, the number of TMC points should be increased. Approximately two times of more TMC points produced no problems during durability test of aluminum hood. To realize more TMC points in the limited areain the autobody parts, special tool design was also devised in this study.