Rivet holes have been found in Egyptian spearheads dating back to the Naqada culture of between 44 B.C. ( November 2022) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.

Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. However, it is much more capable of supporting shear loads (loads perpendicular to the axis of the shaft).įastenings used in traditional wooden boat building, such as copper nails and clinch bolts, work on the same principle as the rivet but were in use long before the term rivet was introduced and, where they are remembered, are usually classified among nails and bolts respectively. To distinguish between the two ends of the rivet, the original head is called the factory head and the deformed end is called the shop head or buck-tail.īecause there is effectively a head on each end of an installed rivet, it can support tension loads. In other words, the pounding or pulling creates a new 'head' on the tail end by smashing the 'tail' material flatter, resulting in a rivet that is roughly a dumbbell shape. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched or drilled hole, and the tail is upset or bucked (i.e., deformed), so that it expands to about 1.5 times the original shaft diameter, holding the rivet in place. The end opposite the head is called the tail. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. Brown (December 2014).Ī rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Permanent mechanical fastener Solid rivets Sophisticated riveted joint on a railway bridge Riveters work on the Liberty ship SS John W.

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