Mechanical Characterization of Glass Fiber Aluminium Reinforced Riveted Joints

The airframe of any flying vehicle comprises structural members such as stringers and stiffeners made of sheet metal members, joined by riveted lap joints. Although different joining techniques exist, the rivet type of fastening still stands efficient. Numerous such rivets are required to join the skin completely. The mechanical loading due to the pressurization and depressurization of the fuselage, which occurs once in every flight and the air loads during the cruising flight causes the concentrated stress at the rivet joints which results in the failure of joints. The main objective of this research paper is to improve the strength of the riveted joints using Fiber Metal Laminate (FML) as the reinforcing material between the riveted joints. The tensile testing of the specimens with and without reinforcement are carried out and from the results it is concluded that due to the presence of reinforcement between the riveted joints the overall mechanical strength of the riveted joints is improved.