Reasons for use in aircraft rivets instead of welding

• Reasons for use in aircraft rivets instead of welding

Ever had to think about why in aircraft, including modern, to connect the design and fuselage is using rivets? Most interesting is that in their flying machines just some astronomical number. This is done, of course, it is not just. It would seem - welding will be better. But no, not when it comes to aircraft, and here's why.

Wings, stabilizers, fuselage - all this (not only) in the assembly of the aircraft to the surprise of most people, the uninitiated in the technical aspects of aviation production, mounted on some dubious rivets, and not on a secure "grandfather" welding. Why? This is a very good question.

Interesting fact: in the case of modern wide-body airliner is about 30 million rivets.

In fact, everything is quite simple. The fact that not every metal is used in mechanical engineering and especially in aircraft structure can be joined by welding. Here (at least for now) are not capable of anything to help all the newest and most innovative technologies. The basic material for modern aircraft is titanium and refractory metal compounds based on aluminum.

The process involves heating the weld metal, as well as its deformation. Only after this happens the compound and solidification of the material. All anything, but when metals are welded together, it is possible to develop such a thing as a "metal fatigue". In the future, it will inevitably lead to the destruction of the structure. For aircraft, this situation is absolutely not acceptable, including for regular extreme loads on the aircraft structure in the areas of turbulence, as well as banal takeoff or landing.

Thus, the "primitive" rivet is still the best method of joining materials for aircraft.