As automakers increase their use of aluminum, composites and other lightweight materials, they are finding that tried-and-true joining methods, such as spot welding, are becoming less useful.
“For years, engineers designed-out fasteners in favor of welding,” says Troy Pierce, senior design engineer at Alcoa Fastening Systems and Rings. “Now that they need to join dissimilar metals, there’s been a big push to design fasteners—and especially structural blind fasteners—back into their products.”