Do rivets on airframe need special sealant to be airtight on pressurized airliners?












9












$begingroup$


Do rivets on airframe need a dedicated sealant, e.g. epoxy, to be really airtight on a pressurized airliner, or is the expansion of the rivet shaft already sufficient?



As a side note, how are carbon fiber panels joined with aluminum or titanium panels?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Just FYI its best to ask one question per each posting - they're related questions, but different.
    $endgroup$
    – Criggie
    Jan 20 at 21:49
















9












$begingroup$


Do rivets on airframe need a dedicated sealant, e.g. epoxy, to be really airtight on a pressurized airliner, or is the expansion of the rivet shaft already sufficient?



As a side note, how are carbon fiber panels joined with aluminum or titanium panels?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$








  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Just FYI its best to ask one question per each posting - they're related questions, but different.
    $endgroup$
    – Criggie
    Jan 20 at 21:49














9












9








9





$begingroup$


Do rivets on airframe need a dedicated sealant, e.g. epoxy, to be really airtight on a pressurized airliner, or is the expansion of the rivet shaft already sufficient?



As a side note, how are carbon fiber panels joined with aluminum or titanium panels?










share|improve this question











$endgroup$




Do rivets on airframe need a dedicated sealant, e.g. epoxy, to be really airtight on a pressurized airliner, or is the expansion of the rivet shaft already sufficient?



As a side note, how are carbon fiber panels joined with aluminum or titanium panels?







aircraft-design aircraft-maintenance






share|improve this question















share|improve this question













share|improve this question




share|improve this question








edited Jan 20 at 18:20







Meatball Princess

















asked Jan 20 at 16:18









Meatball PrincessMeatball Princess

885115




885115








  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Just FYI its best to ask one question per each posting - they're related questions, but different.
    $endgroup$
    – Criggie
    Jan 20 at 21:49














  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Just FYI its best to ask one question per each posting - they're related questions, but different.
    $endgroup$
    – Criggie
    Jan 20 at 21:49








3




3




$begingroup$
Just FYI its best to ask one question per each posting - they're related questions, but different.
$endgroup$
– Criggie
Jan 20 at 21:49




$begingroup$
Just FYI its best to ask one question per each posting - they're related questions, but different.
$endgroup$
– Criggie
Jan 20 at 21:49










1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes


















15












$begingroup$

I banged rivets on a production line long ago. The countersunk rivets used in the pressure hull depend on expansion of the shaft, but some rivets also have a slightly larger radius where the shank flares out into the head compared to a standard flush rivet, which forms a tighter seal when the rivet is set.



You don't actually apply sealant to the rivet itself. The sealant, which is a crazy-sticky goo stuff (not epoxy, it cures to a hard rubber consistency), gets everywhere when you are shooting rivets on the pressure hull because the faying surfaces (the overlapping metal to metal surfaces) are coated in sealant before assembly, which gets in the rivet holes (the sealant is a pain in many ways; it acts like a lubricant if it gets on the skinny end of the rivet and makes it easy to dump the rivet over when you buck it).



Carbon fiber panels are usually joined to metal with bolts or Hi Lites or similar rivets, with some sort of insert or doubler of stainless or titanium in the carbon to distribute the loads. Sandwich floor panels for example, typically use a titanimum insert bedded into the sandwich with epoxy resin, through which the fastener goes. Carbon against titanium is fine, but if joining carbon to aluminum, you MUST have an insulating material to separate them because they live at opposite ends of the galvanic scale. Carbon touching aluminum = lots of corrosive fun.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$









  • 10




    $begingroup$
    Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 20 at 19:22






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 20 at 22:56










  • $begingroup$
    were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 21 at 5:02










  • $begingroup$
    No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 21 at 5:32











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1 Answer
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active

oldest

votes








1 Answer
1






active

oldest

votes









active

oldest

votes






active

oldest

votes









15












$begingroup$

I banged rivets on a production line long ago. The countersunk rivets used in the pressure hull depend on expansion of the shaft, but some rivets also have a slightly larger radius where the shank flares out into the head compared to a standard flush rivet, which forms a tighter seal when the rivet is set.



You don't actually apply sealant to the rivet itself. The sealant, which is a crazy-sticky goo stuff (not epoxy, it cures to a hard rubber consistency), gets everywhere when you are shooting rivets on the pressure hull because the faying surfaces (the overlapping metal to metal surfaces) are coated in sealant before assembly, which gets in the rivet holes (the sealant is a pain in many ways; it acts like a lubricant if it gets on the skinny end of the rivet and makes it easy to dump the rivet over when you buck it).



Carbon fiber panels are usually joined to metal with bolts or Hi Lites or similar rivets, with some sort of insert or doubler of stainless or titanium in the carbon to distribute the loads. Sandwich floor panels for example, typically use a titanimum insert bedded into the sandwich with epoxy resin, through which the fastener goes. Carbon against titanium is fine, but if joining carbon to aluminum, you MUST have an insulating material to separate them because they live at opposite ends of the galvanic scale. Carbon touching aluminum = lots of corrosive fun.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$









  • 10




    $begingroup$
    Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 20 at 19:22






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 20 at 22:56










  • $begingroup$
    were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 21 at 5:02










  • $begingroup$
    No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 21 at 5:32
















15












$begingroup$

I banged rivets on a production line long ago. The countersunk rivets used in the pressure hull depend on expansion of the shaft, but some rivets also have a slightly larger radius where the shank flares out into the head compared to a standard flush rivet, which forms a tighter seal when the rivet is set.



You don't actually apply sealant to the rivet itself. The sealant, which is a crazy-sticky goo stuff (not epoxy, it cures to a hard rubber consistency), gets everywhere when you are shooting rivets on the pressure hull because the faying surfaces (the overlapping metal to metal surfaces) are coated in sealant before assembly, which gets in the rivet holes (the sealant is a pain in many ways; it acts like a lubricant if it gets on the skinny end of the rivet and makes it easy to dump the rivet over when you buck it).



Carbon fiber panels are usually joined to metal with bolts or Hi Lites or similar rivets, with some sort of insert or doubler of stainless or titanium in the carbon to distribute the loads. Sandwich floor panels for example, typically use a titanimum insert bedded into the sandwich with epoxy resin, through which the fastener goes. Carbon against titanium is fine, but if joining carbon to aluminum, you MUST have an insulating material to separate them because they live at opposite ends of the galvanic scale. Carbon touching aluminum = lots of corrosive fun.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$









  • 10




    $begingroup$
    Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 20 at 19:22






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 20 at 22:56










  • $begingroup$
    were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 21 at 5:02










  • $begingroup$
    No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 21 at 5:32














15












15








15





$begingroup$

I banged rivets on a production line long ago. The countersunk rivets used in the pressure hull depend on expansion of the shaft, but some rivets also have a slightly larger radius where the shank flares out into the head compared to a standard flush rivet, which forms a tighter seal when the rivet is set.



You don't actually apply sealant to the rivet itself. The sealant, which is a crazy-sticky goo stuff (not epoxy, it cures to a hard rubber consistency), gets everywhere when you are shooting rivets on the pressure hull because the faying surfaces (the overlapping metal to metal surfaces) are coated in sealant before assembly, which gets in the rivet holes (the sealant is a pain in many ways; it acts like a lubricant if it gets on the skinny end of the rivet and makes it easy to dump the rivet over when you buck it).



Carbon fiber panels are usually joined to metal with bolts or Hi Lites or similar rivets, with some sort of insert or doubler of stainless or titanium in the carbon to distribute the loads. Sandwich floor panels for example, typically use a titanimum insert bedded into the sandwich with epoxy resin, through which the fastener goes. Carbon against titanium is fine, but if joining carbon to aluminum, you MUST have an insulating material to separate them because they live at opposite ends of the galvanic scale. Carbon touching aluminum = lots of corrosive fun.






share|improve this answer









$endgroup$



I banged rivets on a production line long ago. The countersunk rivets used in the pressure hull depend on expansion of the shaft, but some rivets also have a slightly larger radius where the shank flares out into the head compared to a standard flush rivet, which forms a tighter seal when the rivet is set.



You don't actually apply sealant to the rivet itself. The sealant, which is a crazy-sticky goo stuff (not epoxy, it cures to a hard rubber consistency), gets everywhere when you are shooting rivets on the pressure hull because the faying surfaces (the overlapping metal to metal surfaces) are coated in sealant before assembly, which gets in the rivet holes (the sealant is a pain in many ways; it acts like a lubricant if it gets on the skinny end of the rivet and makes it easy to dump the rivet over when you buck it).



Carbon fiber panels are usually joined to metal with bolts or Hi Lites or similar rivets, with some sort of insert or doubler of stainless or titanium in the carbon to distribute the loads. Sandwich floor panels for example, typically use a titanimum insert bedded into the sandwich with epoxy resin, through which the fastener goes. Carbon against titanium is fine, but if joining carbon to aluminum, you MUST have an insulating material to separate them because they live at opposite ends of the galvanic scale. Carbon touching aluminum = lots of corrosive fun.







share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered Jan 20 at 17:06









John KJohn K

20.4k12560




20.4k12560








  • 10




    $begingroup$
    Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 20 at 19:22






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 20 at 22:56










  • $begingroup$
    were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 21 at 5:02










  • $begingroup$
    No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 21 at 5:32














  • 10




    $begingroup$
    Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 20 at 19:22






  • 3




    $begingroup$
    Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 20 at 22:56










  • $begingroup$
    were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
    $endgroup$
    – niels nielsen
    Jan 21 at 5:02










  • $begingroup$
    No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
    $endgroup$
    – John K
    Jan 21 at 5:32








10




10




$begingroup$
Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
$endgroup$
– niels nielsen
Jan 20 at 19:22




$begingroup$
Back in the day when cigarette smoking was allowed on most airliners, the pressurized ones would leak until they had a few months of flying time on them. when torn down for repair and inspection it was discovered that the leaky seams in the pressure hull were caulked tight with condensed cigarette smoke...
$endgroup$
– niels nielsen
Jan 20 at 19:22




3




3




$begingroup$
Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
$endgroup$
– John K
Jan 20 at 22:56




$begingroup$
Yes basically the same as sealing your driveway cracks with tar. Cigarette tar played havoc with outflow valves, but the most damage was done to avionics.
$endgroup$
– John K
Jan 20 at 22:56












$begingroup$
were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
$endgroup$
– niels nielsen
Jan 21 at 5:02




$begingroup$
were you an avionics tech? what planes did you service?
$endgroup$
– niels nielsen
Jan 21 at 5:02












$begingroup$
No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
$endgroup$
– John K
Jan 21 at 5:32




$begingroup$
No I was a hydromech engineering guy and also did some flying. CRJs. Retired now.
$endgroup$
– John K
Jan 21 at 5:32


















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