Simulation of the Manufacturing Process of Self-Piercing Rivets with LS-DYNA with Focus on Failure Pediction for Sheets and Rivet

There are many two-sheet and three-sheet material combinations in a body-in-white which can be joined via self-piercing rivets (SPR). A physical trial-and-error approach to ensure the feasibility of all combinations would be very time consuming and expensive. In addition the physical manufacturing test will not deliver the amount of accumulated damage in the sheets which is relevant for the strength of the SPR in a successive crashworthiness load case. An appropriate virtual simulation of the manufacturing process can be used to assess manufacturability and to evaluate the accumulated damage.