- Basic Structure and Properties
- Rivet consists of cylindrical shaft with head and tail ends
- Can support tension loads but excels in shear loads
- Traditional wooden boat fastenings worked on rivet principle before term
- Historical Development
- Rivet holes found in Egyptian spearheads from 4400-3000 BC
- Bronze Age swords and daggers had rivet holes for handles
- Early rivets were short metal rods hammered into pre-drilled holes
- Main Types
- Solid rivets are oldest and most reliable, used in aircraft construction
- High-strength structural steel rivets replaced by bolts due to cost
- Semi-tubular rivets reduce force needed for installation
- Blind rivets allow installation with access to only one side
- Self-piercing rivets join materials without drilled holes
- Installation and Testing
- Solid rivets installed using hammers, pneumatics, or riveting machines
- Blind rivets tested for shear and tensile strength
- Rivets should be placed 4-6 thousandths larger than hole diameter
- Should not be combined with bolts or screws in same joint
- Applications
- Widely used in aircraft construction for lightweight strength
- Common in plywood road cases
- Used in construction of jeans and sizzle cymbals
- Traditional wooden boat building used similar rivet-like fastenings