Evaluation of Aluminium, Copper and Aluminium-30% Copper Alloy Rivets

Abstract

This work studied the failure of rivets made from different material compositions; Aluminium, copper, and aluminium-copper alloy under the same working condition. The strength to weight ratio and other properties of these materials make them ideal materials for rivet design. Six different rivets were produced each using pure aluminium ingot, pure copper ingot and aluminium copper alloy and each of the rivet was used to join mild steel together using the same pressing force of 50 kN. Each of the joint was subjected to impact test to measure the amount of impact energy they can absorb before failure. The impact test analysis showed that copper rivets had the highest impact resistance as only partial failure occurred. Impact test analysis of aluminium rivet resulted in fracture, thereby making it a weak material for riveting when it comes to components that requires high loading force. Also, Al-30%Cu alloy has high impact resistance, but less than that pure copper. Thus, it is concluded that for application with expected impact energy ˂ 12J, rivet made from pure copper is recommended. For application with expected impact energy ˂ 10J, rivet made from Al-30% Cu alloy is recommended, while for application with very low impact energy ˂ 5J, rivet made from pure aluminium is recommended.

Keywords: Rivet joint, aluminium-copper alloy, pressing force, failure test, Impact energy