THE EXPLOSIVE RIVET

Evening Star, Issue 25224, 11 July 1944, Page 8

THE EXPLOSIVE RIVET

NOW IN EXTENSIVE USE Amongst the many successful wartime developments with post-war possibilities is the explosive rivet, which is now being extensively used in the fabricating of the fuselage and wings of aircraft. These rivets are ,a new and entirely unique type of blind fastener which makes possible high-speed riveting in locations where it is difficult or impossible to " buck " the head on the conventional solid rivet. As the use of the explosive rivet may conceivably be applied to the building of certain parts of post-war bodies of motor vehicles, a few details of how this unique rivet is made and detonated will not be without interest. In the shank end of every explosive rivet there is a small cavity containing a tiny expansion charge. Applying the tip of an electrically-heated riveting iron or radio frequency detonator to the head of the rivet transmits heat to charge and in H to 2 seconds from the instant the tip contacts the rivet tlie head fires the charge, expanding the blind end of rivet into a perfect barrel-shaped head of a diameter 15 to 30 per cent, greater than the original shank. Both " cheese" and countersunk heads are available in these rivets, in three shank diameters viz., £in,< 6-32 in, and 3-16 in. Distinctive colouring of different-size rivets indicates the range of metal thickness for which they may be used. A noticeable report indicates to the operator when the rivet has expanded and formed a blind head.