B05 - Design of versatile joints

Newly challenges of varying material-geometry-combinations and the increasing demand of lightweight designs require not only reliable prediction models for the determination of the joining possibility, safety and suitability but also the consideration of versatile process chains. Therefore, the sub-project B05 pursues the goal of developing a comprehensive design methodology for the dimensioning and optimization of individual joining components in combination with the selection of suitable mechanical joining techniques taking varying input parameters into account. For this purpose, predictive meta-models will be developed which involve a large number of process parameters as well as different material and sheet thickness combinations in order to estimate mechanical properties of the joints in advance with a sufficient accuracy. However, since the carrying out of experimentally or numerical studies is highly cost- and time-intensive, it is crucial to identify efficient methods for the sufficient description of varying input parameters and to obtain reliable regression models based on limited databases. Thus, a main challenge is to keep the configuration effort manageable on the one hand and on the other hand, to remain the design methodology adaptable enough to be able to design different mechanical joining processes flexibly and robustly for the application in versatile process chains. Additionally, the application of sensitivity and robustness analyses enables the identification of relevant and non-relevant joining parameters based on their impact on specific geometrical joint characteristics and load-bearing capacities. As a result, it is possible to significantly reduce the complexity of the initially trained models and to derive design formulas. After the completion of the first project phase, the novel design methodology not only provides a procedure for the efficient selection of mechanical joining processes but also a knowledge-and data-based dimensioning and optimization of the particular joints.