Introduction to Fastener Technology

Part 2

An Aerospace
Manufacturing
Perspective

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 Fasteners in Aviation

 Fastener Overview:
– Types of Fastener:
 Permanent Fastening
– Welding
– Adhesive Bonding
– Riveting
– Temporary Fastening
 Threaded
 Non-Threaded

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 Permanent Fastening

 Welding
 Adhesive Bonding
 Riveting

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 Welding

 Fastening methods that join

together two pieces of metal
by melting the base metals
and adding a filler material to
form a pool of molten material
 Can be carried out by the use
of heat or pressure or both
and with or without added
metal.
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 Types of Welding

 Most aerospace industry utilizes:

– MIG Welding

– TIG Welding

– Friction Stir Welding (FSW)

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 MIG or GMAW Welding

 Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding / Gas

Metal Arc Welding (GMAW):
– Easiest welding process
– Able to bond a wide range of material
types and thicknesses
– Easily adapted for automation and
semi-automation welding applications

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 MIG or GMAW Welding

 Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding / Gas

Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) Equipment:

1) Welding torch
2) Work piece
3) Power source
4) Wire feed unit
5) Electrode source
6) Shielding gas supply.

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 MIG or GMAW Welding

 Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding / Gas

Metal Arc Welding (GMAW) Area:
1) Direction of travel
2) Contact tube
3) Electrode
4) Shielding gas
5) Molten weld metal
6) Solidified weld metal
7) Work piece.

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 TIG or GTAW Welding

 Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding sometimes

referred by Gas Tungsten Arc Welding (GTAW) :
– Most complicated welding process
 Requires both hands to work; one hand is
used for feeding a filler metal, while the
other hand is use to control the welding
torch.
– Like GMAW, it has the ability to bond a wide
range of material types

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 TIG or GTAW Welding

Equipment :
- A welding torch
- Constant-current welding power supply
- Shielding gas source

10 GTAW system setup

 Friction Stir Welding (FSW)

 Unique solid-state welding

 Maintain the original metal characteristic
 Typically used on a large piece of metal
 Discovering a greater use in aerospace industry
applications, such as:
– Very low distortion and shrinkage
– No fumes, sparks, or porosity
– Repeatable
– Cost and weight reduction
– Improved joint quality

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 FSW process

A. Two discrete metal work

pieces butted together,
along with the tool (with a
probe).

B. The progress of the tool

through the joint, also
showing the weld zone and
the region affected by the
tool shoulder.

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 Friction Stir Welding (FSW)

 Used to manufacture some of the Airbus component

such as the wing rib

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 Welding Geometry

 Five basics types of weld joints are:

– Butt Joint
– Lap Joint
– Corner Joint
– Edge Joint
– T-Joint

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 Adhesive Bonding

 Benefits of Adhesive bonding

– The ability to reduce significant amount of
fasteners weight in the aerospace structures
– Improve the aerospace aerodynamic and
performance
– Able to adjust rapid temperature changes, from
sub-zero temperature in the stratosphere to
ground-level temperatures in desert climates

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 Adhesive Bonding

 Substances that are able

to bond two materials
together by :
– Adhesion
 Force between adhesive
and substrate

– Cohesion
 Internal strength of
adhesive itself.

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 Examples of Adhesive Bonding

 Internal structures with lightweight

honeycomb sheets

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 Riveting

 Smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end

 One of the earliest methods of fastening metal together and most popular
choices in today’s applications for it is known as the most reliable fasteners

 Aerospace industries use hundreds of thousands of solid rivets to assemble

structural parts of an aircraft

 Classic materials for aircraft rivets are aluminum, titanium, and nickel based
alloys

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