In the early days, many bridges abroad used riveting technology, and China used to have riveted bridges as well. With the continuous development of bridge construction, welding technology has also been widely used. Relevant technical personnel conducted a safety assessment of the service life of riveted bridges and found that there are also problems with welding.
Early welded bridges had many problems due to inadequate materials and processes. Traditional welding methods result in local stress concentration in the welding area after welding, causing the metal to become brittle and prone to sand holes, bubbles, and microcracks. When these components work in a vibrating environment for a long time, cracks will form at the welding site, eventually leading to fatigue fracture and posing a threat to engineering safety, especially in high-risk areas such as high-speed locomotives and aerospace. Therefore, relatively safe riveting methods are widely used.
The riveting process can achieve the connection of various materials such as steel, aluminum, and plastic, with low energy consumption and self-monitoring of process quality. Usually, different combinations of materials, thicknesses, and hardness require different rivets, punch dies, and equipment costs for rivets, which are much higher than those for resistance spot welding.