A new single-sided blind riveting method for joining dissimilar materials

A new single-sided, one-step, blind riveting method is developed for joining dissimilar materials. The rivet rotates at a high speed when it cuts and penetrates the workpieces. When fabricating lap joints of AA6111 and AA6022, it was observed that both the torque and force increased as feed rate increased during the rivet penetration. Joints produced by the new method exhibited approximately a 20% higher maximum tensile load compared to joints made by conventional blind riveting and a 11% higher maximum tensile load compared to joints made with friction stir blind riveting (FSBR). The new riveting process is compared to the FSBR due to their process similarity and the mechanism for the success of the new method is discussed.