Originally Posted by chefsos:
Did you know that a percentage of rivets sometimes just fall apart for no good reason? I'm sure that doesn't include airline rivets, though. Pretty sure anyway.
I've been working on commercial airplanes for 27 years. I have never seen an "airline rivet" fall apart for no good reason. The heads may shear off because of skin corrosion. In 27 years I have only seen a handful of sheared rivets. The problem with the Southwest airplanes in the article was metal fatigue. Thousands of cycles of pressurization and depressurization cause stress on the skin. Cracks can occur eventually. Ever bend a paper clip back and forth until it breaks? That's metal fatigue.
Originally Posted by jet62:
I've been working on commercial airplanes for 27 years. I have never seen an "airline rivet" fall apart for no good reason. The heads may shear off because of skin corrosion. In 27 years I have only seen a handful of sheared rivets. The problem with the Southwest airplanes in the article was metal fatigue. Thousands of cycles of pressurization and depressurization cause stress on the skin. Cracks can occur eventually. Ever bend a paper clip back and forth until it breaks? That's metal fatigue.
Good information to know. However, I was just trying to fuck with Mr Plow there. I failed, for a variety of reasons.
