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Mechanical joining technologies are becoming increasingly important with the trend towards light and multi-material designs in the automotive industry. Providing robust connection techniques will be of particular importance. Thus, rejection rates are reduced and costs are cut in the parts production. This paper discusses the example of clinching and its potentials and limits concerning FEM based sensitivity analysis and optimization for the joining by forming technology. By determining the sensitivity of the design for relevant connection parameters, the most important values for the optimization of the forming die are derived. On this basis, both, appropriate tools for a particular material combination and other tools for the joining of different thicknesses and sheet materials are designed. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis of uncertain variables allows to evaluate the robustness of the clinching process in production. Based on these results, methods to increase process robustness or process monitoring in terms of quality assurance can be derived.

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