Rivetless fastener for aluminum

An aerospace fastener from Textron Inc., Troy, Mich. (textron.com), installs through a single, drill-quality hole and meets NASM requirements on torque-out and push-without flaring the retainer. This eliminates two additional rivet holes, as well as secondary steps such as counterboring and countersinking. The Cherry Rivetless Nut plate has a sleeve that uniformly expands during installation to increase the fatigue life of the aluminum panels being joined. The sleeve also has an extended grip range, so it can replace several fasteners and reduce inventories. The rivet installs in 2 sec on sheets as thin as 0.062 in. using standard Textron fastening tools. The operator inserts a mandrel in a predrilled hole.

Then, as the fastener is pulled into the hole, the mandrel expands the sleeve, completing installation.