The Challenge
Welding and bolting are widely used techniques to join metal components while adhesives are increasingly popular as a more cost-effective joining method while offering a better reduction in vibration noises and improving aesthetics of vehicles. The constant demand for new materials that are lighter or stronger necessitates advancements in joining techniques, which facilitate the joining of new combinations of materials and have potential contributions to the overall lightweighting of a vehicle. Materials exhibit different behavior under high strain rate conditions. Therefore, by investigating materials and their corresponding joined structures at various strain rates, engineers are able to understand the merits of new materials and joining techniques against established methods during crash impacts, validate and improve upon existing crash simulations.
