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Difficulty: EasyFasteners and Joints

In a structural assembly, two overlapping metal plates are fastened together by a single rivet. When opposing forces pull the plates parallel to their surfaces in opposite directions, what type of stress is primarily applied to the rivet?

  1. A
    Tensile stress
  2. Shear stressAnswer
  3. C
    Compressive stress
  4. D
    Torsional stress

Answer

The correct answer is shear stress.
The correct answer is shear stress because the pulling forces act parallel to the overlapping surfaces. This load causes the metal plates to try to slide across one another, attempting to slice the rivet in half at the exact plane where the two plates meet.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the orientation of the forces relative to the fastener and the metal plates.
The pulling forces are acting parallel to the flat surfaces of the overlapping metal plates.
The direction of the applied load determines the specific type of stress experienced by the fastener.
2
Determine the mechanical effect of these parallel forces on the rivet.
The forces cause the plates to try to slide past each other, creating a slicing action across the middle of the rivet.
Visualizing how the plates interact with the rivet helps identify the failure mode.
3
Match the physical effect to the correct engineering terminology.
A force that attempts to cut or slice a material parallel to its cross-section is defined as shear stress.
This confirms the engineering definition of the load being applied.

Key Concept

Identifying load types and shear stress in mechanical joints.
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Topics

Fasteners and Joints

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