Influence of the distance between rivets in self-piercing riveting bonded joints made of carbon fiber panels and AA2024 blanks

The increasing use of new materials alternative to steel in manufacturing industry has led to a greater emphasis on the improvement and the development of specific joining approaches allowing to get effective mechanical properties even when different materials are joined together. It should be observed that often the traditional welding techniques show several limitations as aluminum or magnesium alloys are used, and, what is more, they are not compatible with composite materials. The development of structures made of these materials has renewed the use of mechanical fastening operations. The present paper investigates the influence of the distance between rivets in self-piercing riveting joints made of aluminum blanks and carbon fiber composite panels (Al/CFRP). The latter find applications in various fields of naval and land transportation industries. The study also involved a the combined use of this technique with the use of structural adhesives. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.