Experimental investigations on the design and execution of shear loaded blind rivet joints in steel lightweight construction

There is a barely manageable variety of blind rivets available on the market. This is because there is no universal product standard, which establishes the mechanical properties of blind rivets in a suitable manner. Whenever structural engineers dimension joints with blind rivets, they face a major challenge due to the lack of design values for the blind rivets themselves and the impractical application limits according to EN 1993-1-3. It is therefore necessary to determinate the design values of the blind rivets itself and for their applications in the field of steel lightweight construction in time and cost-intensive experimental investigation. Furthermore, the regulations according to the ECCS, which allow the experimental-based determination of design values for such applications, are insufficient, as they do not consider alternating stresses as well as compact joint dimensions.
To close the gap of knowledge this paper presents results from systematic investigations on the shear and load-bearing behavior of blind rivets and joints with blind rivets. Based on the investigations the authors suggest the extension of the current design and execution rules in order to allow a safe design by separate verification of the components and blind rivet.