PennEngineering is working on metal fasteners for plastics that can be installed ultrasonically or thermally, said Leon Attarian, director of global marketing. Plastics are more common in electronics, where Penn tends to get most of its business. "We are also in automotive and aerospace, since there are electronics in both." The company also has worked on recently on environmentally friendly platings.
Fasteners must also cope with higher heat. In addition to military and aerospace applications, high-temperature needs can be found in the oil and gas industries. This can include anything from strip mining to fracking to deep sea drilling, said Jungmann. "The materials used there are second to none in heat resistance."
In cars, a whole generation of smaller engines with reduced displacement and fewer cylinders are creating very high heat and require higher-grade materials, he said. Other shifts in auto manufacturing include more car components, like floor pans and body cells, that incorporate sheet-molding compound to reduce weight. "These components may still use fasteners, but assembly lines are attaching the fasteners to the sheet molding compound with adhesives."
Smaller fasteners are also a major trend, partly because of the shift to thinner materials. Attarian said that demand is increasing for microfasteners, because engineers are using more stainless steel and more rigid material, "even when it's thin material, so you need very small M1 thread sizes, for example."
In automotive manufacturing, Emhart sees renewed emphasis on smaller, stronger fasteners.
bobjengr, glad you enjoyed the article. We covered some of the pros and cons of fasteners and adhesives for structural applications in a January feature:
While reporting that article I was surprised to find out how adhesives have taken over from fasteners in so many demanding apps, including the Dreamliner 787 skin, as you mentioned.
This is an excellent article and one that "covers a lot of bases".Mechanical fasteners, plus welding and brazing, were just about the only method of "sticking things together" when I spent my time at the university.For the past five (5) years, I have specified adhesives; i.e. acrylics, silicones, hot melt, etc that have actually replaced mechanical fasteners.Quite frankly, I was absolutely amazed to find acceptable performance for a great number of assemblies.Adhesives are not suited for many application where significant tensile and shear stresses are encountered but they are certainly adequate for some jobs where the overriding goal is merely adhesion.I attended a conference in Chicago some months ago in which one subject was the Boeing Dreamliner and was surprised to find most of the skin was adhered to the inner frame with adhesives.
wbswenberg, thanks for the input on military hardware and their fastener requirements, and William, thanks for your input on the plus-Tite fastener types. Mil requirements are definitely in a different class.
while adhesives can be superior in some respects, when they are mixed with plastics or other materials, such as MDF or wood products, it makes it a lot harder, if not impossible, to recycle those materials.
Beth, the statement was a more specific one, about the fact that there are requirements for and limitations on design for disassembly, specifically with regard to fasteners. As TJ points out, these are issues regarding captive and non-captive fasteners.
We did use fasteners similar to the "plus-Tite" for installing deveopmental crash sensors inprototype vehicles, because self-tapping screws of any variety are not sufficient. They are one version, there are several slightly different types, The main benefits are much stronger multiple thread engagement and greater reliability, followed by prevention of thread stripping. The fact that some of these threaded inserts are good for extended teperatures is an added benefit as well.
For military hardware it is usually a requirement to use replacable thread inserts. I've had to put in a few my self and have a couple done for me. I'm aware of the new type that uses standard drill sizes but have as yet to use it. Ok it was developed ~20 years ago. I pretty much always use a torque wrench for Al. And critical Fe parts even the oil drain pan since I've had a couple of problems. And at least one time the torque wrench was the problem not feeling and hearing click. Now I also have an in-lb wrench that I love.
The basic purpose of fasteners is to break down items into makeable parts and allow for maintenance/adjustment/modifications/storage. The elimination of fasteners is a very valuable part of a design as well.
But the trend is to demand more and more of our fasteners for economic reasons so the design effort has shifted more to the fastener systems themselves.
This environmental treatises of fasteners is timely, Ann.
Fastener technology has evolved greatly in the application of the use of different building materials. MDF has worked its way into wood working and the production of the "knock-down" self assembly furniture. Previously, you were a the mercy of very coarse threaded lag screws that you hoped would not strip out when it was assembled. Advent of new cam lock studs has definitely opened up the use of MDF for multiple applications.
New European safety standards mandate captive fasteners on machinery guarding. Fasteners similar to those described in this article will make meeting the standard easier.
The intent of the standard is to make reinstalling covers an easy, no-thought-required task. Non-captive fasteners are easily lost in maintenance evolutions, so putting the guard back on means finding new screws, or making due with one less. Eventually, the guard is held with just a single fastener and doesn't really do its job of guarding very well that way.
By refining topologies and using new fluid technology, Moog's new peak sine drive controller increases available power without increasing controller volume.
Lantronix Inc. has expanded its line of controllers for sensor networks with the release of a rugged controller that improves management of automation systems used in a number of industries, including manufacturing, oil and gas, and chemicals.
Inspired by the hooks a parasitic worm uses to penetrate its host's intestines, the Karp Lab has invented a flexible adhesive patch covered with microneedles that adheres well to wet, soft tissues, but doesn't cause damage when removed.
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