Development of a novel adaptive joining technology employing friction-spun joint connectors (FSJC)

Joints are an essential part of modern (lightweight) structures in a broad variety of applications. The reason for this is the rapidly increasing number of different material combinations needing to be joined in application areas like the automotive industry. It is currently common to use numerous auxiliary or standardized elements instead of individually adapted joining elements. This leads to a large number of different joining elements per product and thus to high costs. An innovative approach to overcoming this issue is the design, manufacture and setting of joint-specific joining elements. A good candidate for the manufacture of adapted joining elements of this type is the so-called friction spinning process. The joining elements formed in this way can be specifically adapted to the application in question in terms of both shape and mechanical properties. The part geometry required for the properties of a given joint is formed using a universal forming tool. This makes it possible to form a wide variety of sub geometries for the auxiliary joining part as a function of the prevailing joint condition, using a single forming tool and starting from the same semi-finished bar material. By applying different process strategies for the rotational speed and feed rate during the forming operation, the same part geometry can even be given different local mechanical properties. The following contribution presents the results of ongoing research work and includes the process concept, process properties, tooling and the results of experimental investigations into the joining of two sheet metal parts with help of this new joining process.