Self Piercing Rivets

[Robotstar5]

Had to go to BIW (body in white) where they build the bodyshells last week to do an update course on the latest robots, had a look round while I was there. Gone are the days of spot welding the shell together, they now use a self piercing rivet process, quiet, no sparks flying and much less energy consumption - Link

 

[wristpin]

A lot of cars are now being glued together with high tech adhesives or a combination of adhesives and rivets.

 

[Shox Dr]

Was lower power the main design breif, and does it offer anymore advantages as you still access to both sides

 

[Robotstar5]

Not sure of the reasoning behind using rivets, but I can certainly see the advantages from when I was in BIW for nearly 20 years. No expensive copper tips to keep replacing, no need for literally miles of water cooling pipework (and the mess when it leaks) and the tooling the robot carries is lighter so more speed. Although the latest robots have their speed limited to 5 metres per second in tests at the factory they reaches nearly 8 metres per second!

 

[LewisT]

Also reduces the number of operations in the assembly line, no holes to drill