Can a Single Rivet Really Cost as Much as an Audi A6?

Recently, a 60,000 RMB donation sparked public discussion, with the donor claiming it was a contribution of a "screw" for the construction of China’s aircraft carrier. Is a single screw on an aircraft carrier really that expensive? In fact, it is not an ordinary screw but a high-tech titanium alloy rivet, whose manufacturing difficulty and high cost are truly astounding.

This is not just a baseless rumor; similar reports have circulated before, stating that a single screw on an aircraft carrier could be as expensive as an Audi car.

In fact, the "screw" used on aircraft carriers is called a rivet, a pin-shaped component with a head on one end, commonly used for fastening two objects together. Rivets come in various types depending on their application, including R-type rivets, fan rivets, blind rivets, tree rivets, semi-circular head rivets, flat head rivets, semi-tubular rivets, solid rivets, countersunk rivets, blind rivets, and hollow rivets.

The rivets used on aircraft carriers are made from a special material, primarily titanium alloy.

Titanium is considered a rare metal because it is dispersed in nature and difficult to extract. It is characterized by its light weight, high strength, metallic luster, and excellent corrosion resistance, making it resistant to seawater, aqua regia, and chlorine. Due to its stable chemical properties, excellent resistance to high and low temperatures, strong acid and alkali resistance, and high strength with low density, titanium is hailed as "space metal."

A single titanium alloy rivet costs at least 100,000 RMB, and not every country has the capability to manufacture them. Moreover, if a titanium alloy product is flawed during production, it cannot be repaired by welding! In the delivery of civil aviation and military mechanical parts in China, if one item in a batch is found to be defective, the military can reject the entire batch (since even slight differences in temperature during heat treatment in different electric furnaces can cause performance variations, it is impossible to remake just one product from a different batch).

Thus, a rivet on an aircraft carrier is worth as much as an Audi car, and from a manufacturing technology perspective, it is not inferior to the car in any way. According to reports, a 100,000-ton U.S. aircraft carrier requires over 1,000 titanium alloy rivets, with a total value of around $100 million, making the unit price close to $100,000. China’s first domestically produced aircraft carrier, being only a medium-sized carrier with a smaller main deck area, requires approximately 700 titanium alloy rivets. The cost, therefore, is lower than in the U.S., with a unit price around 500,000 RMB.

In 1916, when H.V. White of a British aircraft manufacturing company first obtained the patent for blind rivets that could be fastened from one side, few people foresaw the widespread use of such rivets today. From aerospace to office machinery, electronics, and sports equipment, blind rivets have become an effective and reliable mechanical fastening method.

Nowadays, rivets are even incorporated into clothing, becoming a popular fashion element. Some clothes, shoes, and bags adorned with rivets exude a sense of elegance and sophistication.

By understanding the high-tech content and complex manufacturing process of titanium alloy rivets, it's easy to see why they are so costly. These seemingly small components not only play a critical role in high-end manufacturing sectors like aircraft carriers but are also making their way into our daily lives as part of fashion trends. In the future, as technology advances and applications expand, the value of rivets will become more widely recognized.