CGLI 2675 - 003
Aircraft Materials & Hardware
Rivet Structure
The main body of the rivet is the shank which is in the form of a cylinder. The metal
pieces to be joined have a hole drilled through them which must permit some
clearance between the rivet and the structure. The rivet is inserted into the hole with
one end of the rivet having a head formed previously. The pre-formed head is a
method of identification and the appropriate head is selected to suit the necessary
requirement and may for example be a snap head or countersink. After the rivet is
inserted into the hole the tail is formed by reacting or squeezing to form a permanent
joint.
Riveted Joints
Riveting is a long established method of making permanent joints using simple
workshop equipment. Providing the joint is correctly designed so that if the rivets are
correctly proportioned and positioned and so that the rivets are stressed in shear and
not in tension then a very strong joint will result. Some examples of typical riveted
joints are:-
Single-riveted lap joint
This is the most common of the riveted joints and issued for joining two plates
together with a simple overlap of each plate and then secured with a single row of
rivets. The single riveted lap joint is used on trunking, internal trim work as well as
sheet and thin metal joints.
Double-riveted lap joint
Joints subject to high pressure, stresses and require to be sealed, require a larger
overlap for two rows of staggered rivets (zigzag riveting). This type of joint is used on
pressure vessels, exhaust and ducting systems.
In the above joints the strength of the joint against failure is the resistance offered by
one cross-sectional area of the rivets.
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Single strap butt joint
Another adaptation of the lap joint is the butt joint with a single cover plate. The
rivets may be single or double row, either side of the joint face. The main plates of
the joint butt against one another, hence the name butt joint.
Double strap butt joint
A stronger resistance is offered to external forces by butt joints which have a double
cross-sectional area of rivet to resist any pull on the joint. With the main plates
butting together a double cover plate involves a cover plate being placed on either
side. The double cover plate butt joint may be further strengthened against
excessive pressure buy the addition of further rows of rivets. These give an increase
in the resisting cross-sectional area of the rivets.
Rivet spacing
Rivets should not be pitched too close as the setting of one rivet may e impeded by
the adjacent head. Neither must a too wide pitch be specified or inter rivet buckling
of the sheet will reduce the loads that can be reacted by the structure. The
recommended practice is to choose rivet pitches of about 4 times the rivet diameter.
It is accepted practice to keep rivets at least twice the rivet diameter away from any
sheet edge. For countersinking rivets the edge distance should preferably be 2.5 D.
The rivet pitching can vary depending on the type of rivet patter used such as chain
or zigzag.
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Solid rivets & Identification
Solid rivets are manufactured with a number of different head forms and in different
materials. The rivets are called up on a drawing by their head form, material and
size which would all be stated on a specification sheet. The head form is evident,
the size can be measured and the material can be identified by its natural colour or
the coloured dye which has been applied.
To identify rivets correctly and to identify the material from which they are made
certain code systems have been developed. The types of letters which identify a
rivet indicate type, material and size. For example a type of rivet used on the A320
leading and trailing edge is the MS20470AD3-04. But what does this indicate to a
user. The coding is broken down as follows:-
MS denotes military standard
20470 indicates a universal head
AD shows that the material is 2117T aluminium alloy
3 gives the diameter in thirty seconds of an inch (1⁄32)
04 give the length in sixteenths of an inch (1/16)
The above is a simple example but there are many different coding’s for all the
different types of rivet available. Look at the attached tables overleaf; extract the
following information to identify the rivet in question –
1. State type of head, rivet length and diameter for AS2230 405
2. Identify rivet head, material spec and diameter and length for SP85 404
3. Rivets dyed violet have what identification mark on the shank?
4. State type of head, rivet length and diameter for SP77 607
5. Why do you think countersink rivet heads have varying angles?
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Rivet coding1
1
Tables and extract taken: Module 6 Materials & Hardware for EASA Part – 66 (www.airtechbooks.com)
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