Fasteners Industry Information
IQS Newsroom Articles on Fasteners
About Fasteners and Fastener Manufacturers Including: Aerospace
Fasteners, Metric
Fasteners, Plastic
Fasteners, Screws & Stainless
Steel Fasteners.
Fasteners are connective mechanisms used
to join and secure materials
together. There are more than 500,000 types of fasteners available, and
the applications are limitless-today almost every product contains a
fastening mechanism to connect parts together. For example, there are
furniture fasteners, electronic equipment fasteners, appliance
fasteners, automobile fasteners and building structure fasteners being
produced
everyday. Aerospace fasteners,
which are screws and bolts used in aircraft assembly and to hold land
gear and fuselage access panels, are a common type. In the US,
fasteners usually follow the American system of measurement, but metric fasteners,
which follow the Metric System, are sometimes used in this country, and
always used in almost every other country. They may be threaded, like screws,
or unthreaded, like ring or pin fasteners. Depending on factors such as
size, shape and strength, fasteners are made out of different
materials. For example, plastic fasteners and metal such as stainless steel fasteners are commonly used, but for very different applications, depending on factors like strength and UV radiation resistance.
Factors for selection depend upon the type of the fasteners,
size of the fasteners, shape of the industrial and
weight of the materials being connected. There is a wide variety of
head options for industrial fasteners, which determine how the fasteners will sit against the material. The type of head
also affects the required length of the fasteners.
Environmental conditions, such as temperature, moisture and ultraviolet
radiation, to which the industrial may be subjected, are also
factors. Chemicals or other corrosive substances to which the
fasteners may be exposed and decorative properties required
of the fasteners must also be considered.
Threaded fasteners, such as nuts, bolts and screws contain
spiral ridges called threads, which aid in the attachment of the
threaded fasteners. Continuous-thread studs are used for
flange bolting. Two nuts are applied and threaded from end to end.
Tap-end studs have a short thread on one end for screwing into a tapped
hole and a longer threaded end called a nut-end, which may have either
a chamfered or round point. Double-end studs have equal-length threads
on both ends with chamfered points and are used for flange bolting or
other applications in which torching from both ends is necessary. Other
threaded fasteners include sheet metal fasteners,
riveting fasteners, and clinching fasteners.
Non-threaded fasteners, such as rivet fasteners, ring
fasteners and pin fasteners do not contain
threads. These fasteners can be quickly assembled and removed from
components and do not need extra fastening hardware. Bind
fastener rivets or pop fastener rivets are inserted into a
pre-drilled hole and a rivet gun pulls on a headed-shaft that passes
through the rivet. The shaft breaks or pops, leaving a bulge on the
head of the rivet, which holds the two parts together. Dowel pins can
be straight, tapered, rolled or grooved and provide perfect alignment,
holding parts in absolute relation to one another. Most retaining rings
need a groove to seal them into position and are stamped both
internally and externally. While some of them may be self-locking, both
kinds are used to keep parts from slipping or sliding apart.
Fasteners are generally either made of plastic or metal,
depending on their applications. Plastic fasteners aren't very strong
and don't have a high resistance to UV radiation, so they aren't
generally used in industrial or construction applications. Instead,
they are used in the manufacturing of children's toys and appliances
because of their aesthetic value and color and shape range. They also
have high resistance to shock and vibrations, and are therefore often
used in the production of automobiles. Metal fasteners are often made
of steel, titanium, brass and bronze. Stainless steel fasteners are
quite common in the automotive, electric, medical, marine, construction
and aerospace industries because of their strength, and resistance to
corrosion and heat. Depending on the material, fasteners are
manufactured and produced a number of different ways. Most plastic
fasteners are injection molded.
Metal fasteners are made by heating and casting. Threaded fasteners go
through a process called thread rolling, in which a die made of harder
metal than what the fastener is made of, with a threaded profile, is
pressed onto a rotating work piece. The force is increased, and the
thread profile is transferred onto the fastener via cold working.
