AS9120B, ISO 9001:2015, and FAA AC 0056B ACCREDITED

How Are Rivets and Fasteners Designed for Aviation?

When discussing the important elements of an aircraft, most people will recognize the roles of wings, engines, landing gear, and other major structures that make flight possible. However, many regularly overlook the role of rivets and fasteners, those of which work to hold the entire vehicle and its systems together. For a modern aircraft, around 50% of the total parts consist of these fasteners, the Boeing 777 featuring nearly one million fasteners alone. With these averages, one may ask what roles rivets and fasteners play, as well as how aircraft remain light enough to fly with upwards of one million hardware pieces being present across structures. In this blog, we will discuss aviation rivets and fasteners in brief detail, allowing you to get a better understanding of their design elements that benefit flight.

While having aircraft be as lightweight as possible is crucial for fuel savings and general efficiency, so too is having robust and reliable structures that will not fail under the many stressors of powered flight. Because of these needs being somewhat equally important, engineers and manufacturers work in various ways to balance the two when it comes to designing aircraft and choosing materials. While carbon fiber is used for various structural elements, such materials cannot always extend in use to the fasteners that hold pieces together. Instead, manufacturers utilize hardware materials that exhibit optimal strength-to-weight ratios.

For the aviation rivets, the most common materials used are titanium, aluminum, carbon fiber, plastic, and nylon. Titanium rivet components are known for their ample strength that matches steel, and they also have the added benefit of being corrosion- and heat-resistant. For a lighter option, aluminum is widely known for being very high in strength while remaining lightweight, and these rivets’ availability in various shapes and sizes makes them a staple of aircraft construction. Carbon fiber rivets are actually a good option as well, as while they match the strength of aluminum options, they are even lighter. With plastic, the strength provided is significantly lower, but this option is chosen for its non-conductivity. Finally, nylon rivets are lighter than most other fasteners, offering both durability and conductivity as needed.

While rivets serve as the types of fasteners that secure skin sections and other assembly items, there are many other forms of hardware present in a standard aircraft. For example, threaded fastener components such as screws, bolt and nut parts, and other such items all serve important roles as well. Depending on whether one needs a permanent or temporary fastening solution, different types of fasteners may be used. For instance, a nut plate and bolt is easy to remove when it comes time to conduct maintenance, while rivets are more permanent with the need for a special tool to break them off for replacement. Aside from choosing the type of fastener, other hardware can also be chosen by material to ensure compatibility with an assembly. If you find yourself in the market for top quality fasteners that you can steadily rely on while carrying out your various operations, look no further than Alpha Industrial Parts.

Alpha Industrial Parts is a leading supplier of countless product types, serving a myriad of applications and industries with our expansive offerings. With over 2 billion new, used, obsolete, and hard-to-find products ready for purchase at any time, we encourage you to explore our website at your leisure. If you already know what you require, use our search engine and filters to rapidly narrow down results with ease. Once you are ready to begin the purchasing process, fill out and submit an RFQ form through our website, and a member of our staff will respond with a customized quote for your comparisons in just 15 minutes or less.


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