The fatigue strength of riveted members is relatively insensitive to the rivet pattern or type of detail (cover plate details, longitudinal splice plates, and angles or shear-splice details). A major advantage of riveted (or bolted) members is that they are internally redundant. Cracking that propagates from a rivet hole is the typical phenomenon of fatigue damage of riveted members as shown in Figures. Since cracks usually do not propagate from one component into adjacent components, fatigue cracking in riveted members is not continuous as in welded members. In other words, fatigue cracking in one component of a riveted structural member usually does not cause the complete failure of the member. Therefore, fatigue cracks would more likely be detected long before the load-carrying capacity of the riveted member is exhausted.
Typical fatigue cracking of riveted member
Crack surface at the edge of rivet hole
Fatigue strength of corroded members.
For severely corroded members where corrosion notching has and When corrosion is severe and notching occurs, a fatigue crack may initiate from the corroded region as shown in Figure . In cases where corrosion has resulted in loss of more than 20 percent of the cross section, the corresponding increase in stress should also be considered.
Fatigue crack from corrosion notch into rivet hole