Shear failure of rivets :

Plates riveted together and subjected to tensile loads may result

in the shear of the rivets. Rivets are sheared across their
sectional areas. Single shear occurring in a lap joint and double
shear occurring in but joint (Fig.5.8)

Rivet Shear Analysis

If a rivet that is in single shear fails, the broken area, A, will be the cross sectional area of the
rivet, pi x r^2.
The shear stress is calculated by:
Fs = P/pi x r^2
A rivet that is in double shear has two shear areas that resist the shear forces. If shear
failure occurs, the broken area is twice as large as in single shear, thus the shear stress is
half that of the single shear fastener.