No abstract

Slug rivet should be installed by automatic drilling and riveting machine due to its special structure. The investigation on slug rivet is limited. In order to promote the application of slug rivet, this article conducts investigations on slug rivet installation process. For the understanding of the riveting quality of a riveted lap joint, it is essential to analyze the riveting parameters. There are numerous parameters associated with a riveting process such as squeezing force, rivet structure, countersunk hole structure, hole diameter, sheet thickness, and clamping force. Incorrect selection or variations in these parameters could directly affect the riveting quality. The aim of this article is to study the impact of the aforementioned parameters on the riveting quality of a riveted aircraft structure. The interference condition is considered as the main quality control criterion. The squeezing force is introduced as the most important parameter for the riveting quality. The study provides a deeper understanding of the slug rivet installation process with the impacts of its riveting parameters. This study will pave the way for further researches and extend the scope of the slug rivet application to more structural connections.

Dimensional variation in aircraft panel assembly is one of the most critical issues that affect the aerodynamic performance of aircraft, due to elastic deformation of parts during the positioning and clamping process. This article proposes an assembly deformation prediction model and a variation propagation model to predict the assembly variation of aircraft panels, and it derives consecutive three-dimensional deformation expressions which explicitly describe the nonlinear behavior of physical interaction occurring in compliant components assembly. An assembly deformation prediction model is derived from equations of statics of elastic beam to calculate the elastic deformation of panel component resulted from positioning error and clamping force. A variation propagation model is used to describe the relationship between local variations and overall assembly variations. Assembly variations of aircraft panels due to positioning error are obtained by solving differential equations of statics and operating spatial transformations of the coordinate. The calculated results show a good prediction of variation in the experiment. The proposed method provides a better understanding of the panel assembly process and creates an analytical foundation for further work on variation control and tolerance optimization.