Riveting Is A Type Of Electric Welding

Riveting is a type of electric welding

For a factory in the riveting and welding industry, one of the most troublesome things is that the equipment is not fully equipped. For example, whether the gantry welding machine should be imported, and the riveting and seaming machine should be selected in several tons of specifications. It all depends on your own personal intuition and feeling. In the end, it is easy to fall into the pit.

What the heck is riveting and welding?

Many people don't know that the riveting welding method and the ordinary electric welding method are not the same at all. How is the common welding method used? It uses the welding rod to melt the metal and make it transparent. This method is more suitable for processing thick plates.

But riveting welding is different. What does it do? It involves a part with a rivet post on it. The rivet post is inserted into the hole of another part and allowed to flow or melt in a cold state, deforming the rivet post and forming the nail head part to lock it.

There is no need to put any extra rivets or screws in it. It is very fast to operate and can save a lot of trouble.

This process is now very suitable for joining plastic materials as well as metal materials. In the interior decoration of automobiles, the casings of home appliances, and the production of electronic components, the number of applications of this technology is on a very large scale.

During 2024, the operating status of a domestic automobile assembly line was that it could complete more than 3,000 riveting and welding work points every day. At the same time, it had strict requirements on its operating rhythm and speed. This requirement must be completed within an eight-second time interval.

The role of gantry welding in riveting welding factories

Gantry welding is the core equipment for processing large plates. It has two columns and a beam. The welding head moves left and right along the beam. It is especially suitable for welding frames and plates that are more than two meters long. Its standard stroke is 3 to 6 meters, the current can be adjusted between 50 and 200 amps, and it can handle steel plates with a thickness between 8 and 25 mm.

However, gantry welding equipment is mainly responsible for welding operations. If the product manufacturing process also needs to complete the riveting process, then a special riveting machine and a positioning fixture for fixation must be equipped. Many small factories only purchased gantry welding equipment and went directly into production. As a result, the entire production capacity was cut in half due to bottlenecks and constraints in the riveting process.

In addition to gantry welding, what other core equipment are there?

A set of riveting welding production line that can be used normally requires at least gantry welding or cantilever welding equipment, spot welding and riveting machines, a plasma cutting machine or a laser cutting machine, and a hydraulic riveting head.

If it is a relatively small factory to configure, as long as it is equipped with the above three things, the overall construction budget will be in the range of 150,000 yuan to 300,000 yuan. However, if you want to handle large rivet posts with a thickness of more than four millimeters, you must add additional equipment to install a hydraulic rivet head.

In the production of precision electronic parts, it is necessary to add a pneumatic precision riveting machine. The size range of the riveting posts here is between 1.6 mm and 2 mm, and the positioning accuracy must be within 0.05 mm. There is a factory in Suzhou that is engaged in riveting welding of mobile phone middle frames. The factory installed and used eight pieces of equipment at this time in 2025. The daily production capacity increased from 1,200 pieces per day to 5,000 pieces per day. The investment in equipment is less than 400,000 yuan.

Different riveting column specifications correspond to different equipment

The diameter of the rivet post is a factor that determines the choice of welding head. If it is a general riveting welding operation, the size of the riveting post is in the range of 1.6 mm to 4 mm, and a standard welding head will be sufficient.

If you are doing spherical riveting welding and the riveting post is smaller than one millimeter and sixty-six, you have to use a micro welding head. The welding head used for flush riveting welding is specially designed to flatten things without leaving raised points on the surface. This is especially suitable for products that require very straight surface flatness.

The main purpose of setting the diameter of the rivet post for hollow rivet welding to greater than 4 mm and making the welding head larger is to reduce dents and shrinkage defects on the surface. There is a factory in Zhejiang Province that specializes in photovoltaic brackets. In 2024, they changed their practice to using 5 mm hollow rivet columns. What are the common equipment in riveting and welding factories (gantry welding, etc. )

After such changes, the defect rate on the surface of their products was reduced from the original 7% to 1.2%, and the final customer's passing probability in the first acceptance was significantly improved.

Which materials and industries are riveting welding suitable for?

The biggest advantage of the technology that combines riveting and welding is that it can firmly connect plastic materials and metal materials, which is something that traditional welding technology cannot do. The panels inside the car dashboard, the air duct components in the air conditioning system, and the shell structure of 3C products are all examples of the use of this typical technology.

When aluminum alloy materials are connected with ABS plastic materials, the rivet cylinder can extend into the plastic from one side of the metal and deform through heating to achieve the purpose of locking and fixing the installation. The entire operation takes less than two seconds.

In the thermal management module of new energy vehicles in 2025, the number of plastic and aluminum riveting points in a single module varies between 60 and 80. The total nationwide demand for this year is more than 50 million points.

For those production plants that are doing this business, the temperature deviation of the welding heads they use must not exceed ±5 degrees. Otherwise, the plastic parts will be scorched and deformed. Therefore, when selecting equipment, temperature control must also be taken into consideration and both factors must be taken into consideration.

How to avoid pitfalls in equipment procurement

When you buy equipment, don't just look at the quotation. You should focus on three numbers. You need to look at these two numbers carefully. One is the life of the welding head, the positioning accuracy, and the beat speed. You should pay attention to these three aspects.

The welding head of gantry welding can be used for 3 to 5 years, but the welding head of the riveting machine wears out quickly. If high frequency is used, it needs to be replaced every two or three years. The price of this gantry welding is possible from 80,000 to 250,000. The difference lies in the stroke and the degree of automation.

First, the product drawings are given to the equipment factory to calculate the production cycle. If the daily production capacity is set to 5,000 pieces, and there are four riveting points on each product, then the processing cycle of a single product must be controlled within the time limit of 3 seconds. After the equipment factory reports the specific technical parameter quotation, we have to go to the existing customers to see the actual production line operation . What are the common equipment in the riveting and welding processing plant (gantry welding, etc.) , be careful not to just look at the products in the exhibition hall. Although by 2026, the overall price trend of equipment will be stable with signs of decline, the after-sales service response provided by different manufacturers will vary greatly, so when we choose partners, we must choose suppliers with localized service teams.

Are all the riveting and welding equipment at your place fully equipped, or are you still lacking a few pieces of equipment? You can communicate and discuss in the comment area. If you find this content useful, please click the like icon and forward it to your friends in the same industry.