
This could include weight, inspect ability, tooling requirements, aerodynamic smoothness, access, corrosion protection, and of course cost.įasteners can be placed into many groupings which may be used as structural fasteners that take aircraft loads, to nonstructural fasteners that connect nonload bearing parts. Other criteria are also needed to select the best fastener for the installation. Fastener numbers and diameter are calculated to transfer this load. An example of this is the load transferred from an engine to a pylon, the pylon load to the wing, and the wing to fuselage. All of this will determine how thick or thin the structure will have to be, the material type of the original structure, and the associated fasteners.įasteners must be able to achieve the transfer of load from one part to another.

Aircraft loads may include those experienced during towing, normal flight operations, wind-gusts, pressurization, engine-out operations, landing, and more. What types of loads will be transferred through the joint. The type of joint the fastener will be exposed to in its application shear or tension. When engineers design an aircraft many things are considered when choosing the correct type of fastener.

Advisory Circular 43.13-1B and the Aircraft General Handbook which can be found online at the FAA web site also contain fastener information.
RIVET JOINT AIRPLANE MANUAL
The purpose of the fastener is to connect all the different parts together in primary structural areas, secondary structure, pressurized and nonpressurized applications, and to transfer loads from one part to another in both production and repair applications.įastener information may be found in various sources which may include the specific aircraft maintenance manual chapter 20, the specific aircraft structural repair manual, or aircraft production and repair drawings. In the world of aircraft construction and repair, aircraft fasteners are utilized to assemble detail parts that are combined together with other parts into assemblies, which are assembled into installations that finally end up as a complete aircraft.Īn interesting statistic is aircraft fasteners make up half of the 6,000,000 parts used to fabricate a Boeing 747-800 aircraft.
