The automotive industry is currently trying to replace the conventional steels to lightweight materials such as aluminum or carbon fiber to meet all stricter emission targets. When using such materials, traditional joining methods, such as spot welds, could be difficult to use. Therefore, more focus has been put on self-piercing rivets (SPR).In whole car models used in crash simulations, substitution models are used to model SPR joints. It is important to calibrate these models for different load cases. Volvo Cars Corporation (VCC) are currently calibrating using time-consuming physical tests where the SPR joint is subjected to loads in different directions. To save time, a way of virtually evaluating the SPR joint strength is therefore sought after. To do this, a method was developed using non-linear FEM in LS-DYNA. The method was then used to perform sensitivity studies concerning friction, sheet thickness and rivet geometry.The method developed can be divided into three parts. The process simulation, where the rivet insertion was simulated. A springback analysis, where the material is allowed to springback, closer resembling the real behaviour. Finally, the three destructive tests, lap-shear, cross-tension and KS2, were built using the geometry and initial values from the springback.For the process simulation, an explicit solution was used. To handle the large deformations present during the event, r-adaptivity was used together with a kill-element-method to describe failure, based on CrachFEM or Gissmo. The following springback analysis was then performed using one implicit step.For the destructive tests, a solid element representation of the SPR joint was created using the geometry and initial values from the springback. A shell-solid hybrid model was used to keep the computational time low.Using the method, a good correlation was found both for the process- and the destructive test simulations when compared to experiments. Furthermore, it could be concluded that friction, sheet thickness and rivet geometry affects the SPR joint strength and characteristics.

With the increased frequency of accidental and deliberate explosions, the response of civil infrastructure systems to blast loading has become a research topic of great interest. However, with the high cost and complex safety and logistical issues associated with live explosives testing, North American blast resistant construction standards (e.g. ASCE 59-11 & CSA S850-12) recommend the use of shock tubes to simulate blast loads and evaluate relevant structural response. This study aims first at developing a 2D axisymmetric shock tube model, implemented in ANSYS Fluent, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) software, and then validating the model using the classical Sod’s shock tube problem solution, as well as available shock tube experimental test results. Subsequently, the developed model is compared to a more complex 3D model in terms of the pressure, velocity and gas density. The analysis results show that there is negligible difference between the two models for axisymmetric shock tube performance simulation. However, the 3D model is necessary to simulate non-axisymmetric shock tubes. The design of a shock tube depends on the intended application. As such, extensive analyses are performed in this study, using the developed 2D axisymmetric model, to evaluate the relationships between the blast wave characteristics and the shock tube design parameters. More specifically, the blast wave characteristics (e.g. peak reflected pressure, positive phase duration and the reflected impulse), were compared to the shock tube design parameters (e.g. the driver section pressure and length, the driven v section length, and perforation diameter and their locations). The results show that the peak reflected pressure increases as the driver pressure increases, while a decrease of the driven length increases the peak reflected pressure. In addition, the positive phase duration increases as both the driver length and driven length are increased. Finally, although shock tubes generally generate long positive phase durations, perforations located along the expansion section showed promising results in this study to generate short positive durations. Finally, the developed 2D axisymmetric model is used to optimize the dimensions of a proposed large-scale conical shock tube system developed for civil infrastructure blast response evaluation applications. The capabilities of this proposed shock tube system are further investigated by correlating its design parameters to a range of explosion threats identified by different hemispherical TNT charge weight and distance scenarios. / Thesis / Master of Applied Science (MASc)