Electro-hydraulic rivet and method of riveting and welding parts
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorSergey Fedorovich Golovashchenko
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of riveting two metal parts through a hole with an electro-hydraulic riveting tool. The electro-hydraulic riveting tool includes a tube that is inserted in the hole and an electrode that is inserted within the tube. A liquid is contained within the tube and the electrode is immersed in the liquid. A stored charge is discharged through the electrode to create a shockwave within the fluid that forms the tube into a rivet structure and creates solid state weld between the rivet flanges and the parts that are joined.
Claims17
A method of riveting two metal parts that define a hole, comprising the steps of:
- inserting an electro-hydraulic riveting assembly into the hole in the parts, the assembly including a tube, an electrode, a liquid contained within the tube;
- and
- applying a stored charge to the electrode to create a shock wave within the liquid;
- and
- forming the tube with the shock wave to overlap two outer surfaces of the two parts around the hole.
A method of joining at least two metal parts, comprising the steps of:
- forming a first hole in a first metal part;
- forming a second hole in a second metal part;
- assembling the first and second parts together with the first and second holes in alignment;
- inserting a tube into the first and second holes;
- inserting a wire electrode into the tube;
- containing a liquid between the wire electrode and the tube;
- applying a stored charge to the wire electrode to create a shock wave within the liquid;
- forming a pair of circular flanges from opposite ends of the tube that are expanded radially outwardly by the shock wave to overlap the outer surface of each of the two parts around the hole.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.