On fatigue life prediction of Al-alloy 2024 plates in riveted joints

The purpose of this paper is to numerically investigate the fatigue life and the fatigue crack growth path of 2024 aluminum plate riveted joints. For this purpose, according to field observations, the parameters affecting fatigue life are obtained. Relevant geometric parameters such as rivet shank length, hole diameter and dimensional tolerances, as well as the location pattern of the rivets and the material of the rivet joints are studied. In this study, modeling is performed to calculate the equivalent plastic strain using the finite element method. For this purpose, a three-dimensional elastoplastic model is used for simulation. The information obtained from the finite element method in this study made it possible to place the rivets in this type of joint for use in high safety structures such as the aerospace industry. Given the importance of the problem of crack growth in 2024 aluminum plates, having the geometrical and physical parameters of the problem, the goal is to achieve the exact path of crack growth and fatigue life of riveted joints. Fatigue crack growth simulation is performed on the samples using the boundary element method. The stress intensity factor for different loading modes is determined using the boundary element method. The results showed that the geometric parameters and the rivet material have a significant effect on fatigue cracking in aluminum plates.