Novel lightweight developments in automobile industry are increasingly completed as hybrid constructions. Modern hybrid concepts, including metallic materials and anisotropic composites require material adapted joining concepts. In this context a special importance is given to the load-adapted design of joining areas. For blind rivet connections in lightweight structures, an appropriate simulation tool is provided, which realistically captures the deformation and failure behaviour in joining areas, with regard to a maintainable modeling and computing effort. Besides that, the simulation tool can be implemented in available finite element (FE-models) of complex vehicle structures.