Abstract The paper presents technology of fastening of elements made of sheet metal with machine elements of much greater thicknesses (i.e. metal plates) by cold plastic press-joining. The fastening technology consists of inserting the thinner element into a channel on the surface of the plate and pressing by two punches arranged symmetrically along the channel edges. Under the effect of cold plastic strain in the plate, the sheet-metal element is thinned, and one obtains the so-called dovetail joint characterized by good tightness and high electric and thermal conductivity. In the paper, the authors present the results of numerical simulation of a plate–sheet metal joint. The investigation was performed in order to determine the influence of technological parameters of the press-joining process on the quality of contact between the joined elements. The following parameters were analyzed: the distance between the sheet and the punch, the shape of punch's working surface, and the depth of punch sink. The joint between the elements and its characteristics were modeled numerically by the FEM method. The correctness of numerical simulation was verified by metallographic examination and strength tests. FEM simulation proved fully consistent with experimental results.
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