A basic approach for lightweight construction on the basis of material design is to join different materials in one component. In practice bonding, joining-by-forming or the combination of both operations ore often used in these cases. The combination of bonding and mechanical joining has great potential. For assemblies, in automobile production for example, special features can be carried out, such as high strength and stiffness, leak-tightness, corrosion resistance, accuracy and crashworthiness. One challenge is the uncertainty about the stability of hybrid joining processes, which relies on deficits in the understanding of the adhesive flow during the joining operation. This article outlines how process understanding can be expanded due to numerical simulation. As a result, the mutual influences of mechanical joining and adhesive bonding are worked out numerically and experimentally.