Blind Rivets

The aircraft blind rivet, also known as a pulled rivet or POP rivet, is the most common component for fastening panels or skins to the airframe when only one side of the structure can be accessed. Blind rivets consist of a rivet and a shank. After being inserted into the joint, they are pulled together to form a solid fastening. Whereas the traditional driven rivet requires service on both the exterior and interior of the aircraft structure—and sometimes two-person installation—a blind rivet can be fastened solely from the outside of the structure, with no access to the “blind” side of the rivet, hence the name.

In addition to these advantages, blind rivets are also lighter than driven rivets. The trade-off, however, is that they’re not as strong, and in some cases more blind rivets than solid rivets will be required to fasten a given section of aircraft structure.

 

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