It has been found that very little work has been done in the
tools’ mechanical aspects such as the design of percussion
mechanism, the mathematical optimization of the tool, force
and acceleration modeling, etc. Therefore, the objectives of the
present study were to
1. investigate the possibility of reducing the vibration of rivet
tools by applying the principles of vibration isolation, damping,
and ergonomic design;
2. develop mathematical models to simulate the hammering
forces and the bucking bar;
3. optimize the design parameters of the rivet hammer using
design of experiment method such as Taguchi method; and
4. validate the re-designed rivet hammers and bucking bar both
in laboratory test and field evaluation.