Pitch of Rivets:

The centre to centre distance between the two consecutive rivets in a row, is called the pitch of the
rivets and is denoted by the letter p as shown in Fig below

Pitch of rivets

In some cases, the pitch is different for different rows. In such cases, the pitch is the least in the
innermost row.
Failure of Riveted Joint:
A riveted joint may fail due to many ways. But the following are more important from the subject
point of view:
1. Failure of the rivets. 2. Failure of the plates
We shall discuss both the above mentioned cases of failure, in more details, one by one.
1. Failure of the Rivets:
A rivet may fail due to either of the following two reasons:
1. shearing of the rivet 2. Crushing of the rivet
Now we shall discuss both the cases one by one.
Shearing of the Rivets:
The plates, which are connected by the rivets, exert tensile stress on the rivets. If the rivets are unable
to resist the stresses, they may be sheared off as shown in Fig below It will be interesting to know that:

P
P

Shearing of rivets
1. The rivets are in single shear in a lap joint and in a single cover butt joint.
2. The rivets are in double shear in a double cover butt joint.

Crushing of the Rivets:

Sometimes, the rivets do not actually shear off, under the tensile stress, but are crushed as shown in
Fig. below Such a failure of rivet is called crushing of the rivet.

P
P

Crushing of rivets

Failure of the plates:

A plate may fail in many ways. But the following are important from the subject point of view:
1. Tearing off the plate across a row of rivets,
2. Tearing off the plate at an edge.
1. Tearing off the Plate across a Row of Rivets:
Due to the tensile stresses, in the main plates, the main plate or cover plates may tear off across a row
of rivets as shown in Fig below. In such cases, we consider only one pitch length of the plate, since
 every rivet is responsible for that much length of plate only.

P P

Tearing across a row of rivets

2.Tearing off the Plate at an Edge:
A plate may also fail due to tearing at an edge as shown in Fig. This can be avoided by keeping the
centre of the nearest rivet, from the edge of the plate, at least two times the diameter of the rivet.

P P

Tearing off at an edge

Strength of a Rivet:
A rivet may fail either due to its shearing off or due to its crushing. Thus, while calculating the
strength of a rivet we see as to how much resistance it can offer. The resistance offered by a rivet is
known as its strength or the value of the rivet. Following two values of a rivet are important from the
subject point of view:
1. Shearing value 2. Bearing value
1. Shearing value:
The resistance offered by a rivet, to be sheared off is known as its shearing value. Mathematically, pull
required to shear off the rivet,
 2
P
s   d 
4
where d  diameter of the rivet and
 = Safe permissible shear stress for the rivet material.
If the rivet is in double shear (i.e., in the case of a double cover butt joint), the corresponding equation
becomes:

P  2   d 2 


s
4
2. Bearing value:
The resistance offered by a rivet to be crushed is known as the bearing value. mathematically, pull
required to crush the rivet,
Pb   b  t  d
where  b = Safe permissible bearing stress for the rivet material,
t = Thickness of the main plate and
d = Diameter of the rivet.
Strength of a Riveted Joint:
The strength of a joint may be defined as the maximum force, which it can transmit, without causing it
to fail. The Ps, Pb and Pt are pulls required to shear to the rivet, crushing of the rivet and tearing of the
plate. A little consideration will show that if we go on increasing the pull on a riveted joint, it will fail
when the least of these three pulls is reached; because a higher value of the other pulls will never reach,
since the joint has already failed, either by shearing of the rivet or by crushing of the rivet or by tearing
of the plate.
If the joint is continuous (as in the case of builders) the strength is calculated per pitch length. But if
the length of the joint is small, the strength is calculated for the whole length of the plate.

Efficiency of a riveted Joint:

The efficiency of a riveted joint is the ratio of the strength of the joint, to the strength of the unriveted
plate. Mathematically
Where
Efficiency Least of


P  1  p  t

P = Pull required to tear off the unriveted plate,

 1 = Permissible tensile stress for the plate material,
p = Pitch of the rivets and
t = Thickness of the plate.