MIDDLE TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

TECHNICAL ENGINEERING

MATERIAL DEPARTMENT

RIVETED JOINT DESIGN

BY
AYA MAJID JASSIM

MATERIAL ENGINEERING

STAGE 3

FINAL REPORT

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INTRODUCTION

Rivets are nonthreaded fasteners that are usually manufactured from steel or
aluminium. They consist of a reformed head and shank, which is inserted into
the material to be joined and the second head that enables the rivet to function as
a fastener is formed on the free end by a variety of means known as setting.

Rivets are widely used to join components in aircraft boilers, ships and boxes and
other enclosures. Rivets tend to be much cheaper to install than bolts and the
process can be readily automated with single riveting machines capable of
installing thousands of rivets an hour.

Rivets can be made from any ductile material such as carbon steel, aluminium
and brass. A variety of coatings are available to improve corrosion resistance.
Care needs to be taken in the selection of material and coating to avoid the
possibility of corrosion by galvanic action. In general a given size rivet will be
not as strong as the equivalent threaded fastener.

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RIVETS AS PERMANENT JOINTS

Often small machine components are joined together to form a larger

machine part. Design of joints is as important as that of machine components
because a weak joint may spoil the utility of a carefully designed machine part.
Mechanical joints are broadly classified into two classes :
 nonpermanent joints .
 permanent joints.

NON PERMANTET JOINT:

Non-permanent joints can be assembled and dissembled without damaging the
components. Examples of such joints are threaded fasteners (like screw-joints),
keys and couplings etc.

PREMANTET JOINT:
Permanent joints cannot be dissembled without damaging the components.
These joints can be of two kinds depending upon the nature of force that holds
the two parts. The force can be of mechanical origin, for example, riveted joints,
joints formed by press or interference fit etc, where two components are joined
by applying mechanical force. The components can also be joined by molecular
force, for example, welded joints, brazed joints, joints with adhesives etc.

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TYPES OF RIVETED JOINTS

Riveted joints are mainly of two types

 Lap joints
 Butt joints

LAP JOINT:
The plates that are to be joined are brought face to face such that an overlap
exists. Rivets are inserted on the overlapping portion. Single or multiple rows of
rivets are used to give strength to the joint. Depending upon the number of rows
the riveted joints may be classified as single riveted lap joint, double or triple
riveted lap joint etc.
When multiple joints are used, the arrangement of rivets between two
neighbouring rows may be of two kinds. In chain riveting the adjacent rows have
rivets in the same transverse line. In zig-zag riveting, on the other hand, the
adjascent rows of rivets are staggered.

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BUTT JOINTS
In this type of joint, the plates are brought to each other without forming any
overlap. Riveted joints are formed between each of the plates and one or two
cover plates. Depending upon the number of cover plates the butt joints may be
single strap or double strap butt joints.
Like lap joints, the arrangement of the rivets may be of various kinds, namely,
single row, double or triple chain or zigzag

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RIVET JOINTS EFFIECINCY

The strength of a rivet joint is measured by its efficiency. The efficiency of a

joint is defined as the ratio between the strength of a riveted joint to the strength
of an unrivetted joints or a solid plate. Obviously, the efficiency of the riveted
joint not only depends upon the size and the strength of the individual rivets but
also on the overall arrangement and the type of joints.

IMPORTANT TERMS USED IN RIVETED JOINTS

Few parameters, which are required to specify arrangement of rivets in a
riveted joint are as follows:
 Pitch: This is the distance between two centers of the consecutive rivets in
a single row. (usual symbol p) .
 Back Pitch: This is the shortest distance between two successive rows in a
multiple riveted joint. (usual symbol pt or pb ) .
 Diagonal pitch: This is the distance between the centers of rivets in
adjacent rows of zigzag riveted joint. (usual symbol pd ) .
 Margin or marginal pitch: This is the distance between the centre of the
rivet hole to the nearest edge of the plate. (usual symbol m).

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STRENGTH OF RIVETED JOINTS

Strength of a riveted joint is evaluated taking all possible failure paths in the joint
into account. Since rivets are arranged in a periodic manner, the strength of joint
is usually calculated considering one pitch length of the plate. There are four
possible ways a single rivet joint may fail.
 a) Tearing of the plate: If the force is too large, the plate may fail in
tension along the row .
The maximum force allowed in this case is
P1 = s pt ( −d t)

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where st = allowable tensile stress of the plate material
p = pitch
d = diameter of the rivet hole
t= thickness of the plat

 Shearing of the rivet: The rivet may shear. The maximum force withstood
by the joint to prevent this failure is :
P2 = Ss ( π d2) for lap joint, single strap butt joint 4
= 2Ss ( π d2) for double strap butt joint
where Ss =allowable shear stress of the rivet material.

 Crushing of rivet: If the bearing stress on the rivet is too large the contact
surface between the rivet and the plate may get damaged.
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With a simple assumption of uniform contact stress the maximum force allowed
P3 = s dt
where sc =allowable bearing stress between the rivet and plate.

 Tearing of the plate at edge: If the margin is too small, the plate may fail.
To prevent the failure a minimum margin of m =1.5d is usually provided.

DESIGN OF RIVET JOINTS

The design parameters in a riveted joints are d , p and m

Diameter of the hole (d ): When thickness of the plate (t) is more than 8 mm,
Unwin’s formula is used d = 6t mm.
Otherwise d is obtained by equating crushing strength to the shear strength
of the joint. In a double riveted zigzag joint, this implies
s tc = d Ss (valid for t <8mm)
However, d should not be less than t, in any case.

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 Pitch ( p ): Pitch is designed by equating the tearing strength of the plate to
the shear strength of the rivets. In a double riveted lap joint, this takes the
following form.
s pt ( −d t) = Ss ×2( π d2) But p ≥ 2d

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q\ triple riveted butt joint with two unequal cover plates joins two 25 mm plates
as shown in the figure below.

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The rivet arrangement is zigzag and the details are given below:
Pitch = 22 cm in outer row and 11 cm in inner rows,
Rivet diameter = 33 mm
Calculate the efficiency of the joint when the allowable stresses are 75 MPa,
60 MPa and 125 MPa in tension, shear and crushing, respectively.
Ans. From code it may be seen that the corresponding rivet hole diameter is 34.5
mm.
To find strength of the joint all possible failure mechanisms are to be
considered separately.
(a) Tearing resistance of the plate in outer row:
P1 = (p − dhole ) t sT = (220-34.5) X 25 X 75 = 347.81 kN
(b) Shearing resistance of the rivet:
P2 = 2 4× ×π\4 d s2 S +π \4d s2 S = 461.86 kN
Note that within a pitch length of 22cm four rivets are in double
shear while one rivet in single shear.
(c) Crushing resistance of the rivet P3 = 5×d tsC = 515.62 kN
(d) Shear failure of the outer row and tearing of the rivets in the second row
P4 = (p −2dhole )tsT +π\4 d s2 S = 334.44 kN
Q\ How is a rivet joint of uniform strength designed?

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Ans. The procedure by which uniform strength in a riveted joint is obtained is
known as diamond riveting, whereby the number of rivets is increased
progressively from the outermost row to the innermost A common joint, where
this type of riveting is done, is Lozenge joint used for roof, bridge work etc.

Q\ Two mild steel tie rods having width 200 mm and thickness 12.5 mm are to
be connected by means of a butt joint with double cover plates. Find the number
of rivets needed if the permissible stresses are 80 MPa in tension, 65 MPa in
shear and 160 MPa in crushing.
Ans. The number of rivets can be obtained equating the tearing strength to the
shear or crushing strength of the joint, i.e., from the equation
(b−d ts) t = 2 (n1 π\4 d2)Ss [Double shear]
In the problem b = 200mm , t =12.5mm, sT =80MPa , sc =160MPa , Ss =
65MPa
and d is obtained from Unwin’s formula d = 6t mm = 21.2mm .
According to IS code, the standard rivet hole diameter is 21.5 mm and
corresponding rivet diameter is 20 mm. The number of rivets required is the
minimum of the numbers calculated from the above two expressions. It may be
checked that n1 is found out to be 3.89 while n2 is 4.216. Therefore, at least 5
rivets are needed.

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