Use of a modified Gurson model for the failure behaviour of the clinched joint on Al6061 sheet

ABSTRACT This paper discusses the ductile fracture behaviour of the clinched joint on Alloy 6061 sheets. Failure behaviour of the clinched joint is associated with the nucleation, growth and coalescence of voids within the microstructure. Various corrections to the original Gurson model are proposed to allow for instability and final fracture of the material. This paper is concerned with the application of the modified Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman damage developed by Ken Nahshon and Zhenyu Xue. The results of the tension tests are compared with those of numerical analysis to obtain the initial void volume fraction f0 and the shear damage coefficients kw. The modified Gurson–Tvergaard–Needleman model is used to describe the failure behaviour and the shear strength of the clinched joint. Good agreement is shown between the experiment results and the numerical results on the location of fracture and the maximum failure load.