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- A self-clinching fastener for hidden lap jointsPublication . Sampaio, Rui F. V.; Pragana, João; Bragança, Ivo M. F; Silva, Carlos M. A.; Martins, P. A. F.This paper presents a new self-clinching fastener to connect two sheets (or plates), made from similar or dissimilar materials, placed over one another by means of a mechanical form-closed joint that is hidden inside the sheets. The development of the fastener, the definition of its main design variables and the identification of its workability limits are carried out by means of a combined experimental and numerical simulation work based on finite elements. It is shown that self-clinching by pressing the two overlapped sheets against each other to displace material around the annular groove of the fastener shank and create undercuts in both sheets requires an appropriate choice of the design variables. Wrong values of the design variables resulting in lack or excess of material displaced by plastic flow gives rise to inappropriate lap joints that cannot be used in production. The new proposed fastener allows, for the first time ever, joining by forming with the use of auxiliary elements that are harder than the sheet materials to fabricate invisible joints with no material protrusions in applications requiring minimum installation space
- Double-sided injection lap rivetingPublication . Pragana, João; Sampaio, Rui F. V.; Chantreuil, Justin; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, Carlos; Martins, PauloThis article presents a double-sided injection lap riveting process for fixing two overlapped sheets with tubular rivets at room temperature. The rivets are injected by compression into the dovetail ring holes that are previously machined in both sheets, and, in contrast to other joining by plastic deformation processes making use of auxiliary elements, the resulting joints are hidden inside the sheets without material protrusions above or below their surfaces. The new process is applied in the fabrication of aluminum busbar joints for energy distribution systems, and comparisons are made against conventional bolted joints that were fabricated for reference purposes. The work combines experimentation and finite element modelling, and results allow concluding that, in addition to invisibility and savings in assembly space, there are important gains in the thermo-electrical performance of the new joints that are of paramount importance for electric distribution applications.
- Resistance element welding of sandwich laminates with hidden insertsPublication . Calado, Francisco N.; Pragana, João; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, Carlos M. A.; Martins, Paulo A. F.This paper presents a new resistance element welding process capable of producing invisible lap joints between steel-polymer-steel composite laminates. The process involves pre-drilling a flat-bottom hole in each laminate to remove the polymer core and one of the steel sheets, and positioning a cylindrical insert inside the two adjoining holes for subsequent resistance welding. Finite element modeling is utilized to construct the weldability lobe and to identify the parameters that lead to the formation of acceptable joints. Experimental results confirm the applicability of the process to produce invisible lap joints without signs of material protrusions or local indentations resulting from squeezing the polymer out to create contact between the steel sheets. Destructive peel and shear tests allow determining the maximum forces that the joints can safely withstand and comparing their performance against alternative joined by forming lap joints in which the mechanical interlocking is also hidden inside the laminates.
- Resistance element welding of sandwich laminates with hidden insertsPublication . Calado, Francisco N.; Pragana, João; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, Carlos; Martins, Paulo A. F.This paper presents a new resistance element welding process capable of producing invisible lap joints between steel-polymer-steel composite laminates. The process involves pre-drilling a flat-bottom hole in each laminate to remove the polymer core and one of the steel sheets, and positioning a cylindrical insert inside the two adjoining holes for subsequent resistance welding. Finite element modeling is utilized to construct the weldability lobe and to identify the parameters that lead to the formation of acceptable joints. Experimental results confirm the applicability of the process to produce invisible lap joints without signs of material protrusions or local indentations resulting from squeezing the polymer out to create contact between the steel sheets. Destructive peel and shear tests allow determining the maximum forces that the joints can safely withstand and comparing their performance against alternative joined by forming lap joints in which the mechanical interlocking is also hidden inside the laminates.
- Hybrid wire‑arc additive manufacturing of conformal cooling channels: a feasibility studyPublication . Pragana, João; Bragança, I. M. F; Silva, C. M. A.; Martins, P. A. F.This paper investigates the feasibility of hybridizing wire-arc additive manufacturing with metal forming to create conformal cooling channels in moulds for hot material processing. An axisymmetric mould is used as a prototype test case and plastic deformation by flaring of the additively deposited inner tubular element is utilized to create the overhangs for connecting with the outer tubular element that are needed to fabricate the cooling channels. Finite element modelling of plastic deformation by flaring of the additively deposited material is carried out to identify the different modes of deformation and to determine the maximum allowable radius of the overhangs. Results show that the proposed hybridization of wire-arc additive manufacturing with plastic deformation by flaring adds flexibility to the design and fabrication of conformal channels in the as-built mould by eliminating the use of support structures and avoiding the use of complex deposition strategies. Finishing of the functional surfaces of the as-built mould by turning ensures the required accuracy and surface quality.
- Coin minting by additive manufacturing and formingPublication . Pragana, João; Rosenthal, Stephan; Alexandrino, Paulo; Araújo, Andreia; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, Carlos; Leitão, Paulo J.; Tekkaya, A. Erman; Martins, PauloAdditive manufacturing is proposed as a novel alternative to coin blank's production routes based on rolling, blanking and edge rimming. The presentation draws from laser powder bed fusion of cylinders, slicing into individual coin blanks by electro discharge machining and surface preparation by polishing, to coin minting in a laboratory press-tool system. Special emphasis is given to material deposition and coin minting due to the originality of producing coin blanks with complex intricate contoured holes and to the necessity of subjecting the additive manufactured coin blanks to extreme compressive stresses that are typical of coin minting. Numerical and experimental results confirm the excellent performance of the additive manufactured coin blanks. The new design layouts included in the additive manufactured coin blanks open the way to produce high value-added singular collector coins, which are disruptively different from those available in the market nowadays.
- Integration of tube end forming in wire arc additive manufacturing: An experimental and numerical investigationPublication . Pragana, João; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, Carlos; Martins, PauloIntegration of tube end forming operations in metal additive manufacturing routes has a great potential for the fabrication of customized features in additively deposited hollow parts. This paper is focused on the integration of tube expansion with rigid tapered conical mandrels to highlight the advantages in the construction of overhanging flares derived from the elimination of support structures and prevention of humping. The work draws from the mechanical and formability characterization of stainless steel AISI 316L tubes produced by wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) to the experimental and numerical simulation of the construction of over hanging flares by tube expansion. Strain loading paths obtained from digital image correlation and finite element analysis combined with the strain values at the onset of necking and fracture allow determining the critical ductile damage that additively deposited tubes can safely withstand. Results show that despite formability of additively deposited tubes being influenced by a dendritic based microstructure, their performance is adequate for tube end forming operations, such as tube expansion, to be successfully integrated in metal additive manufacturing without the need of using expensive hardware and complex deposition strategies.
- Invisible mechanical lap joints for metal–polymer laminatesPublication . Batista, R. J. S.; Bragança, I. M. F; Silva, C. M. A.; Pragana, J. P. M; Martins, P. A. F.Joining by compression of metallic inserts has been recently developed by the authors to create invisible lap joints between metal and polymer laminates. This paper revisits the process with the objective of proposing a new type of bi-material (polymer–metal) cylindrical insert for lightweight construction applications that is capable of ensuring complete filling of the joint at the end of stroke without increasing the forming force and the risk of sheet bending. The presentation is built upon a combined experimental and finite element research work focused on the modes of deformation, formability limits, forming forces, and resistance strength that lap joints produced with the new bi-material cylindrical inserts are able to withstand before failing. Results allowed designing a simple and easy to fabricate bi-material cylindrical insert that overcomes the main problems that have been pointed out to the metallic inserts earlier proposed by the authors.
- New self-clinching fasteners for electric conductive connectionsPublication . Sampaio, Rui F. V.; Martins, Paulo; Pragana, J. P. M; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, C. M. A.This paper presents new rotational and longitudinal symmetric self-clinching fasteners to fabricate reliable connections in busbars with low electrical resistance for energy distribution systems. Connections consist of form-closed joints that are hidden inside regions where two busbars overlap. The investigation into the fabrication and performance of the new self-clinched joints involved finite element modelling and experimentation to determine the required forces and to evaluate the electric current flow and the electrical resistance at different service temperatures. The original design of the joints that was proposed in a previous work was modified to account for busbar strips of copper and/or aluminum with similar or dissimilar thicknesses, connected by means of self-clinching fasteners made from the same materials of the busbars, instead of steel. The effectiveness of the new self-clinched joints was compared to that of conventional bolted joints that are included in the paper for reference purposes. The results show that rotational symmetric self-clinching fasteners yield lighter fabrication and more compact joints with a similar electrical resistance to that of bolted joints. They also show that longitudinal symmetric self-clinching fasteners aimed at replicating the resistance-seam-welding contact conditions yield a reduction in electrical resistance to values close to that of ideal joints, consisting of two strips in perfect contact and without contaminant or oxide films along their overlapped surfaces.
- Joining by forming of lightweight sandwich composite panelsPublication . Contreiras, Tomás R. M.; Pragana, João; Bragança, Ivo; Silva, Carlos; Alves, Luís M.; Martins, PauloThis paper presents a new joining by forming process to assemble longitudinally two metal-polymer sandwich composite panels perpendicular to one another. The process combines sheet-bulk forming with mortise-and-tenon joints to produce mechanically interlocked joints with large and stiff flat-shaped heads. Experimentation and finite element modelling with representative unit cells give support to the presentation and special emphasis is placed on the application of the process to the fabrication of lightweight composite panels for structural applications. Failure of the joints takes place by cracking and not by disassembling after unbending the flat-shaped head of the joint back to its original shape. The required forces to produce the new type of joints are below 15 kN, allowing them to be an easy to implement alternative to existing solutions based on adhesives or fasteners.