What Does The Testing Of Fasteners Entail?

If you buy a fastener such as the Hastelloy C276 nylon insert lock nut, it would be perfectly reasonable for you to expect high performance out of it. When you buy the fastener from a reliable vendor, you will enjoy a high degree of confidence. Why is this so? High quality fastener vending firms tend […]

If you buy a fastener such as the Hastelloy C276 nylon insert lock nut, it would be perfectly reasonable for you to expect high performance out of it. When you buy the fastener from a reliable vendor, you will enjoy a high degree of confidence. Why is this so? High quality fastener vending firms tend to be very stringent about the quality of their finished products. They usually spend a lot of resources taking their products through various types of testing and some of these include:

Bending yield testing

Products such as the alloy 20 tee head bolts can sometimes be subjected to heavy bending forces. Examples of this include when they are used to fix moving items onto static ones, such as a machine on a concrete base. In this setting, the movement of the machine could exert large bending forces on the fastener.

The bending yield testing is used to determine the point at which the fastener will break. This is important since it helps in characterizing the fastener. If you know the mechanics of the structure you are fastening, you could order a fastener that has the physical capabilities to resist any bending movement from the structure. You won’t have to find out what the limits of the fastener are through trial and error.

Tensile testing

Fasteners are usually subjected to one of two forces: tension and compression. Tension is the force that tends to stretch out the fastener. Once it reaches its elastic limit, it will then break. Tensile testing is meant to estimate how much force is needed to break the fastener this way. This information is then used to determine the applications it can be used for. An alloy with a very low tensile strength would not be used in an environment with high tension.

Chemical and metallurgical analysis

In a few cases, the chemical composition of the fastener is important. An example of this is when it’s likely to be used to construct a water treatment plant, in which non-toxic materials should be used. Chemical analysis can also be used to predict the behavior of the fastener in different chemical environments, such as when exposed to a lot of acid rain.

Hardness testing

This is a self-explanatory type of test; it is done to estimate how hard the fastener is. When using fasteners in environments where they will be subjected to repetitive forces, it is important to make sure that they are very durable by having sufficient hardness. The consequence of not ensuring that this happens include having to deal with high rates of breakage.

Shear testing

This aims to test the fastener’s capability when exposed to twisting or shearing forces. It is important in cases where the fastener will be used as the main junction between two heavy bodies, or when supporting a weight that is usually in motion.

These are some of the basic tests that fasteners undergo; there are many others that are specific to the application they will be used for. Buying fasteners from trusted sources is virtually a guarantee that they will have undergone rigorous testing!