Modeling and predicting of aeronautical thin-walled sheet metal parts riveting deformation

Abstract

Purpose

Riveting deformation is inevitable because of local relatively large material flows and typical compliant parts assembly, which affect the final product dimensional quality and fatigue durability. However, traditional approaches are concentrated on elastic assembly variation simulation and do not consider the impact of local plastic deformation. This paper aims to present a successive calculation model to study the riveting deformation where local deformation is taken into consideration.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the material constitutive model and friction coefficient obtained by experiments, an accurate three-dimensional finite element model was built primarily using ABAQUS and was verified by experiments. A successive calculation model of predicting riveting deformation was implemented by the Python and Matlab and was solved by the ABAQUS. Finally, three configuration experiments were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the model.

Findings

The model predicting results, obtained from two simple coupons and a wing panel, showed that it was a good compliant with the experimental results, and the riveting sequences had a significant effect on the distribution and magnitude of deformation.

Practical implications

The proposed model of predicting the deformation from riveting process was available in the early design stages, and some efficient suggestions for controlling deformation could be obtained.

Originality/value

A new predicting model of thin-walled sheet metal parts riveting deformation was presented to help the engineers to predict and control the assembly deformation more exactly.

Citation

Chang, Z., Wang, Z., Jiang, B., Zhang, J., Guo, F. and Kang, Y. (2016), "Modeling and predicting of aeronautical thin-walled sheet metal parts riveting deformation", Assembly Automation, Vol. 36 No. 3, pp. 295-307. https://doi.org/10.1108/AA-10-2015-077