Abstract
One crucial characteristic of the aircraft structure are fatigue properties and rivets are usually critical areas in metal airframes due to fatigue cracks nucleation. According to literature, the NACA riveting method offers a huge increase in fatigue life of riveted lap joints. This paper presents FE simulations of quasi-static riveting on a press for standard countersunk rivets and the NACA riveting in two configurations: with a normal brazier rivet and a brazier rivet with a compensator. The analyzed configurations have been compared based on the stress courses on the sheets faying surfaces after riveting process. Due to a lack of data, the rivet length and the squeezing force value were assumed for NACA riveting based on FE simulations. The results indicated beneficial influence of the NACA riveting in the outer sheet (with a countersunk) and disadvantageous influence in the inner sheet. This effect was stronger in the case of the rivet with a compensator.