Rivet
 |
A rivetted buffer beam on a steam locomotive |
A
rivet is a mechanical
fastener consisting of a smooth
cylindrical shaft with heads on either end, the second one formed in position. The heads are somewhat larger than the
diameter of the hole into which the rivet has been inserted. Generally one head is
factory formed. The other is formed by clinching
metal after the rivet has been inserted.
This can be done with a
solid rivet, either by applying
force by holding up the head end with a
dolly and clinching the other with a manual or a
pneumatic hammer or with a die over the end to be clinched, by squeezing rivet and work together with a press. Portable presses for the job are usually pneumatic.
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Three aluminium blind rivets: 1/8", 3/32", and 1/16". The shaft pulls out leaving only a rivet—everything below the flange. |
Blind rivets are tubular and are supplied with a
mandrel through the centre. The rivet assembly is inserted into a hole drilled through the parts to be joined and a specially designed tool used to draw the mandrel into the rivet. This expands the blind end of the rivet and the mandrel snaps. This gives the rivets their common name of
pop rivet (See
blind rivet).
There are a number of types of rivets: solid rivets, blind rivets,
multi-grip rivets,
grooved rivets, peel type blind rivets, self-pierce rivets,
plastic rivets, drive rivets, tubular rivets, etc. Fastenings used in traditional wooden
boat building like copper nails and
clinch bolts work on the principle of the rivet but they were in use long before the term rivet was invented. So, where they are remembered, they are usually classified among the nails and bolts respectively.
Before
welding techniques and
bolted joints were developed, metal framed
buildings and
structures such as the
Eiffel Tower and the
Sydney Harbour Bridge were generally held together by riveting. Also
automobile chassis were riveted. Riveting is still widely used in applications where light
weight and high strength are critical, such as in
aircraft.
Common but more exotic uses of rivets are to reinforce
jeans and to produce the distinctive sound of a
sizzle cymbal.
The
stress and
shear in a rivet is analyzed like a
bolted joint.
*
Rosie the Riveter*
Rivet counter
