The first joining method we will look into is known as Mechanical Fastening. This is the joining method you are likely most familiar with as it is one of the most common and obvious joining methods used within engineering. We will look at some of the more common mechanical fasteners used in the aerospace industry as well as some of the advantages and disadvantages of using them in terms of general structural performance.

During the following set of lecture videos, please keep in mind what we learned earlier – design is always a compromise. A challenge in designing joints is that joints are almost always a weakness in a structure. So designing a joint is compromising between the need for the joint discussed earlier and the consequence of the joint on structural performance.