Impact of the hot-driving process on the strength and ductility of steel rivets

Rivets were the primary fastener used to fabricate the connections of steel structures until the mid-twentieth century through a technique called hot riveting. Nowadays, engineers, architects and historic preservationists often lack information on the structural behaviour of steel riveted connections. Given the high number of parameters induced by hot riveting, the understanding and assessment of the behaviour of steel riveted connections is challenging. Therefore, we reviewed and compared historical test data with the results of experiments we performed. We tested in tension rivets machined from steel connections we fabricated. This paper addresses the impact of the hot-driving process on the strength and ductility of steel rivets. Experimental results corroborate historical test data. Rivet driving increases the tensile strength of steel rivets markedly. However, it reduces their ductility substantially. Consequently, the hot-driving process improves the shear strength of steel riveted connections. Present standards could be refined to account for the impact of the hot-driving process.