Machine Design

UET, Taxila

Lecture: 3 “riveting”
 Rivets and Riveting:
 A Rivet is a short cylindrical rod having
a head and a tapered tail. The main
body of the rivet is called shank (see
next figure).
 According to the standard specifications,
rivet heads are of various types.
 Rivets heads for general purposes are
specified by the standards as follows:
(below 12.7 mm diameter) (from 12.7
mm to 48 mm diameter).
 Rivet heads used for boiler works are
specified by special specifications.
Dimensions of the heads are in special
tables in any machine design handbook.
 Riveting Operation
 Riveting is an operation whereby two
plates are joined with the help of a
rivet.
 Adequate mechanical force is applied to
make the joint strong and leak proof.
 Smooth holes are drilled (or punched
and reamed) in two plates to be joined
and the rivet is inserted.
 Holding the head by means of a
backing up bar
 Necessary force is applied at the tail
end with a die until the tail deforms
plastically to the required shape.
 This process is shown in next figure.
Riveting Operation Schematic
Representation
 Depending upon whether the rivet is
initially heated or not, the riveting
operation can be of two types:
 (a) cold riveting: riveting is done at

ambient temperature
and
 (b) hot riveting where rivets are

initially heated before applying force.

 After riveting is done, the joint is heat-

treated by quenching and tempering.

Types of riveted joints and joint efficiency:
 Riveted joints are mainly of two types:
 1. Lap joints
 2. Butt joints
 Lap Joints:

 The plates that are to be joined are

brought face to face such that an
overlap exists, as shown in next figure.
Rivets are inserted on the overlapping
portion.
Lap Joint
 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

a- single riveted lap joint,
b- 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:
 1- Chain Riveting
 2- Zigzag Riveting
1- In chain riveting (chain arrangement)
the adjacent rows
have rivets in the same transverse line.

2- In zigzag riveting, on the other hand,

the adjacent rows of rivets are
staggered.

Different types of lap joints are sketched

in the following figures.
Single rivet lap joint
Double Riveted Lab Joint (Chain)
Zigzag Riveting
 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.
 A single strap butt joint is shown in
next figure.
Butt joint with single strap
 Like lap joints, the arrangement of the
rivets may be of various kinds, namely,
single row (for each plate), double or
triple chain or zigzag.
 A few types of joints are shown in next
figures
Single riveted butt joint with single and
double strap
Double riveted butt joint with single and
double straps
Zigzag double riveted butt joint with single
and double straps
Efficiency of riveted joints
Efficiencies of riveted joints (in %)
 An efficiency is usually expressed as a
per cent. To express it thus, multiply
the ratio strength of joint ÷ strength of
solid plate, by 100.
 Important terms used in riveted joints:
 Few parameters, which are required to
specify arrangement of rivets in a
riveted joint are as follows:
 a- Pitch.
 b- Back Pitch
 c- Diagonal pitch
 d- Margin of marginal pitch.
 a- Pitch
Pitch is the distance between two
similar points (e.g centers) of the
consecutive rivets in a single row.

(usual symbol p)
 b- Back Pitch
Back Pitch: This is the shortest
distance between two successive rows
in a multiple riveted joint.

 (usual symbol pt or pb )
 C- Diagonal Pitch
 Diagonal pitch: This is the distance
between the centers of rivets in
adjacent rows of zigzag riveted joint.

 (usual symbol pd)

 d- Margin or marginal pitch
 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)
 m = 1.5 d
Important design parameters in riveting
Strength of riveted joint
 Strength of riveted joint

 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 as follows:
 possible ways a single rivet joint may fail
 a) Tearing of the plate
 B) Shearing of the rivet
 c) Crushing of rivet
 d) Tearing of the plate at edge
 a) Tearing of the plate:
 If the force is too large, the plate may
fail in tension along the row (see figure
4).
Fig. (4) Failure of plate in tension
The maximum force allowed in this case is:
 b) Shearing of the rivet:
 The rivet may shear as shown in figure
5.
Fig. (5): Failure of a rivet by shearing
The maximum force withstood by the joint
to prevent shear failure is
 c) 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.
(see figure 6).
Fig. (6): Failure of the rivet by crushing
 With a simple assumption of uniform
contact stress the maximum force
allowed is:
 d) Tearing of the plate at edge:
 If the margin is too small, the plate
may fail as shown in figure 7.
 Fig. (7): Tearing of the plate at the edge.

To prevent the failure a minimum margin

of (1.5 d ) is usually provided.
 2. Efficiency:

Efficiency of the single riveted joint can

be obtained as ratio between the
minimum of P1, P2 & P3 and the load
carried by a solid plate which is
 In a double or triple riveted joint the
failure mechanisms may be more than
those discussed above. The failure of
plate along the outer row may occur in
the same way as above. However, in
addition the inner rows may fail.
 For example, in a double riveted joint,
the plate may fail along the second
row. But in order to do that the rivets
in the first row must fail either by shear
or by crushing. Thus the maximum
allowable load such that the plate does
not tear in the second row is :
 Further, the joint may fail by
• (i) shearing of rivets in both rows
• (ii) crushing of rivets in both rows
• (iii) shearing of rivet in one row and
crushing in the other row.
 The efficiency should be calculated
taking all possible failure mechanism
into consideration.
 3. Design of rivet joints
a- Diameter (d) if (t) is more than 8 mm
b- Diameter (d) if (t) is less than 8 mm
d constraint and Pitch
p, m & pb constraint
 Multi-rivets considerations
 If (t) denotes the thickness of the
plates joined ; d, the diameter of the
holes; n1, the number of rivets in a
row ; and w. the width of the plate or
bar; then the net section = (w - n1d) t.
 Let St denote the tensile working
strength of the plate ; then the Force
for the un-riveted plate is (wtSt) , and
the reduced tensile Force is
 {w - n1d) t St.
 n1, n2 and n3
 n1, the number of rivets in a row
 n2 denoting the total number of rivets
in the joint; and
 n3 denoting the total number of rivets
in a lap joint, and one-half the number
of rivets in a butt joint.
Distance between raws
 Examples:
 Example No: (1),
Answer:
 Answer: hole diameter from table = 34.5
 All failure mechanisms has to be
considered separately
Diamond Riveting in structural joint
Example: 4