RIVETING SHEET METAL TO PLASTIC SUBSTRATES

[168MVC]

Does anyone have experience riveting thin sheet metal plates to 3/4 thick plastics such as delrin or uhmw?
Approx 16 X 16 inch area. Any help or sugguestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[MadMango]

We've done the opposite before, riveting 1/8 ABS to 12-14ga sheet metal frames. What type of help are you looking for?

Wanna Tip? faq731-376
"Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities."

 

[jbknudsen]

I have worked on riveting(drive rivets) thru 26 Ga sheet metal 12" wide to a piece of D-range urethane that is .75" sq. x 12" long. The assembly is then surrounded on one side with molten urethane in a mold process and then post cured for our final product. The interface sees peeling loads and loads of shear on the rivets, not a lot of torsion, yet there is some. What exactly are you looking for.

Regards,

Jay

 

[MintJulep]

I have successfully used pop rivets to hold a UHMW block in place on a 1/8" thick sheet. Just a blind hole in the plastic. The expansion of the rivet shank is sufficient to hold things together if your load is in shear. Pull-out forces are rather low however. Obviously this solution is only for non-critical applications.

 

[MadMango]

168MVC, is the sheet metal supported across the entire 16x16 area, or is your Delrin/UHMW part hollow? If hollow, I'd be a bit concerned with drum-skinning effects of your 18ga. If this is dynamic in any manner, it will loosen your rivets.

If you have to use rivets, I would suggest you keep the ceneters of your holes away from your edges by at least a factor of 5 for the diameter of your rivets. AS the rivet collaspes, it will try to deform your plastic parts. If deformation isn't a concern, then you might be able to mave as close a 3x the diameter of your rivets.

Wanna Tip? faq731-376
"Probable impossibilities are to be preferred to improbable possibilities."