SBIR Phase I: Joining of Dissimilar Materials Using Rivet-Weld Technology

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将确定一种新的铆接焊接技术的技术可行性并展示其商业潜力，该技术可用于连接不同材料，制造可持续运输的轻型车辆结构。为了提高燃油效率和减少污染，减轻车辆重量一直是汽车和飞机制造商的主要目标。一种有效的减轻重量的方法是通过根据不同材料的特性将不同材料定制到结构的特定区域来创建优化的多材料结构。制造这种多材料结构的挑战在于材料的连接，因为由于可焊性的限制，传统的焊接技术不能应用于连接这种不同的材料。发明了一种结合了自冲铆接和电阻点焊优点的混合工艺。该项目的智能优点是(1)一种新的连接技术，使铝与高强度钢的连接成为可能，并创造了创新的连接结构，如板材与管的连接，(2)为特定材料和连接结构量身定做的优化铆钉设计的计算方法，以及(3)控制铆接焊接过程的算法。该项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使设计和建造汽车车身等轻型结构成为可能。事实证明，车辆重量每减轻10%，燃油效率就会提高6~8%。随着人们对全电动和混合动力汽车的兴趣与日俱增，车辆重量的减轻将转化为每次充电的电池更小、行驶里程更长。所有这些都将导致减少能源消耗和排放。此外，铆接焊接技术将允许制造商利用现有的组装厂基础设施生产多种材料结构。该装配线上的焊接机器人或固定机只需最少的重新配置即可使用。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will establish the technical feasibility and demonstrate the commercial potential of a new rivet-weld technology for joining dissimilar materials in manufacturing light weight vehicle structures for sustainable transportation. Reducing vehicle weight has been a primary goal of the automotive and aircraft manufacturers in order to improve fuel efficiency and reduce pollution. An effective approach to weight reduction is to create optimized multi-material structures by tailoring different materials to the specific areas of a structure according to their properties. The challenge in producing such multi-material structures lies in materials joining since traditional welding techniques cannot be applied to joining such dissimilar materials due to limitations of weldability. A hybrid technology that combines the advantages of self-piercing riveting and resistance spot welding was invented. The intellectual merits of the project are (1) a new joining technology to enable the joining of aluminum to high strength steels and the creation of innovation joint configurations such as sheet to tube joining, (2) computational method for optimizing the rivet designs tailored for the specific material and joint configurations, and (3) algorithms for controlling the rivet-weld process.The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to enable design and construction of light weight structures such as automotive bodies. It has been established that every 10% reduction in vehicle weight will result in an improvement in fuel efficiency between 6~8%. With the increasing interest in full electric and hybrid electric vehicles, reduced vehicle weight will translate to smaller batteries and longer driving range for each charge. All these will lead to reduced energy consumptions and emissions. In addition, the rivet-weld technology will allow manufacturers to produce multi-material structure using existing assembly plant infrastructure. The rivet weld machines can be adopted onto welding robots or stationary machines on the assembly lines with minimum reconfiguration.