The development of improved fastening systems has made a substantial contribution to the consistency and repeatability of the rivet installation process in the Aerospace Industry.
In order to take maximum advantage of the fatigue life improvement that this repeatability makes possible, the industry has expended substantial effort in identifying those parameters that govern the hole fill that can be achieved.
A rivet has been designed which expands in a more predictable and controllable fashion than rivets currently in use, and which therefore is more “forgiving to the hole”.
This new rivet's superior ability to adapt, in combination with automated systems capability to limit the deviation in hole size, has provided the industry with the means of achieving substantially higher fatigue life.
The rivet, originally developed by Lockheed, is called the Aerolock and its introduction has made a substantial contribution to the enhancement of manually and automatically installed rivets.