Comparison of Self-Pierce Riveting, Resistance Spot Welding and Spot Friction Joining for Aluminium Automotive Sheet

TLDR

Resistance spot welding is the most common method for joining steel sheets in automotive manufacturing, offering high speed, low cost, and versatility across joint configurations. This study compares resistance spot welding, self‑pierce riveting, and spot friction joining to assess their capability, efficiency, and cost for mass‑production automotive structures and closures. The authors evaluated RSW, SPR, and SFJ by quantitatively comparing tensile strength (shear and peel), process time, equipment price, and running cost. Aluminium joining limitations—weld consistency and electrode life—can largely be overcome by regular electrode polishing, improving process reliability.

Abstract

This work compares three aluminium sheet joining processes to determine their capability, efficiency and cost for mass production applications in automotive structures and closures. The joining processes investigated are Resistance Spot Welding (RSW), SelfPierce Riveting (SPR) and Spot Friction Joining (SFJ). Quantitative comparisons have been made on the basis of tensile strength (shear and peel), process time, equipment price and running cost. RSW is the most commonly employed joining method for steel sheet in the automotive industry. Its principle benefits are high speed and low cost operation, plus the ability to weld a wide range of joint configurations with the same gun. The main process limitations for aluminium are weld consistency and electrode-life, though recent work has shown that both of these can be largely overcome with regular electrode polishing