Extension of the application limits of blind fasteners for joining high‐strength steels in metal lightweight construction

Wherever joints in metal lightweight construction are only accessible from one side, joining techniques such as screwing or welding are uneconomic or inapplicable, blind fasteners and especially blind rivets as the most common type are the means of choice. Nevertheless, with the use of blind rivets, problems arise for the structural engineer, because of the lack of proper design rules according to the Eurocode 3. With the research affords of the authors this deficiency was eliminated for the field of normal strength steel in the past. However, with the increasing usage of high‐strength steels in such constructions, new problems emerge and the developed design rules are not valid yet. This paper presents results from quasi‐static tests on blind rivet joints with different steel grades of the components to extend the proposed design rules. Different effects were identified, which lead to a reduced shear resistance of the blind rivets. At the same time the results point out the benefits of high‐strength steels on the load‐bearing behaviour. Furthermore, results from fatigue tests on blind rivet joints are presented. These show a notable influence of the steel grade on the fatigue resistance of the joint as well as the potential for the design of such joints.