Modeling Shear Performance of High-Speed Ridged Nail in Aluminum Joints

The automobile industry is currently moving towards increasing fuel economy by reducing vehicle weight. A high-speed ridged nailing technology is a new technology which can solve the challenges involved with multi-material joining in automobile industry. This study investigated the performance of the high speed ridged nail joints made with Aluminum 6061-T6 in pure shear loading. An LS-DYNA FEA model of high-speed ridged nail joint was developed and model results were validated against corresponding experimental results from pure shear loading tests till failure. It was shown that the proposed shear model agreed with experimental results. A set of sensitivity studies were carried out to identify the influential material model type, influence of petalling and effect of ridge-engagement on the joint strength in shear. The model was further used to simulate performance of high-speed ridged nail joints with different thickness combinations. The findings of these simulations indicate that high-speed ridged nail is a viable solution for material joining. Regression models based on bottom plate thickness were proposed.