Experimental Validation of Riveting Process Fe Simulation

Rivets are critical areas in metal airframes from the fatigue point of view. Fatigue behaviour of riveted joints depends strongly on the residual stress system around the rivet holes. The both most convenient and most common method of determining these stresses is the Finite Element (FE) analyses. The validation of models used is necessary to ensure the reliability of results.

This paper presents the validation process of the riveting FE simulations for the universal and the countersunk rivets. At first, the material model of the rivets was validated with the use of the force–displacement curves of the press stamp obtained experimentally. Because of the displacement measurement method, it was necessary to take into account the flexibility of the stand. After that, good correlation between the numerical simulations and the experiment was obtained for both rivet types.

At the second stage, strains around driven heads measured with the use of strip gauge patterns were compared with the results of the FE simulations. Quite good correlation was obtained for the countersunk rivet. In the case of the universal rivet, the numerical results are significantly higher values than the measured ones. Differences in correlation of the experiments and FE simulations for the analysed rivet types probably result from material differences of the rivets.