Investigations on design limits and improved material utilization of press-fit connections using elastic-plastic design

Today, there are a number of analytical and numerical calculation methods for the elastic-plastic design of press-fit connections. However, these are largely constrained by their restriction to elastic-ideal-plastic material behavior. In addition, recommendations for limiting the plasticized hub cross section that have been provided to date do not exploit the full potential of the materials, with the result that opportunities for lightweight design and improved transmission capacity have remained unused so far. Yet, no experimental validations exist to this end, which is why the existing design method could not be validated until today. In addition, there is still a lack of research on how to evaluate the potential for increasing the force and torque transmission under consideration of the strain hardening of the material during plastic deformation. The lack of knowledge today prevents a targeted design and thereby the industrial application of this type of connection; the transmission capacity and light-weight design potentials have thus remained unused until now (Kroger and Binz, 2020). This article presents the actual design and joining limits of hubs made of EN AW-5083 (AlMg4,5Mn), which were determined as part of an Industrial Collective Research (IGF) project. This allows the hub materials to be better utilized, which leads to a reduction in mass and/or an increase in the force and torque transmission. In addition, the experimental validation of the numerical investigations helps to establish the design method in industrial practice.