This edition of the Fastener Training Minute with Carmen Vertullo was originally published May 26, 2015, as “structural bolting and vibration resistant fastening” during episode 93 of Fully Threaded Radio.
Well hi everybody, this is Carmen Vertullo from Carver Consulting with your Fastener Training Minute.
Today. I’m speaking to you from the ASTM F16 Fastener Committee conference in Anaheim, California. You should listen to a report on that conference in a future program.
Well today’s topics are structural bolting and vibration resistant fastening. Interestingly enough, these two types of fasteners almost never cross paths, but that fact helps us in understanding them. The Fastener Training Institute has programs on both of these coming up and John Walkman is going to tell you more about how to get involved in that.
Well, let’s get back to structural bolts and vibration resistant fastening. Structural bolts are critical application fasteners for holding steel together in buildings, bridges, stadiums, dams, highways, and all other kinds of infrastructure. They do not generally have anything we would consider to be a locking or anti-vibration feature.
What they do have is high tension on installation, and the best way to keep a tight bolt tight is to be sure it’s properly tensioned during the installation. That’s because bolts stretch like rubber bands when we tighten them, and the stretching action is what keeps them tight.
Now when we have a bolted joint or a screw that lives in a severe vibration environment or it cannot be tensioned, then we need to help it out with a vibration resistant feature of some sort. These vibration resistant fastening strategies come in two broad categories: those which are described by a specification or a standard, and those which are special or proprietary.
They both range from the very simple and common, such a split lock washers, nylon insert lock nuts, and anaerobic compounds to the very exotic such as special thread forms multi-part locked and proprietary compounds for locking in ceiling.
Now, the Fastener Training Institute has programs that cover both of these topics. You can find out about them at fastertraining.org.
I encourage you to consider attending our webinars or our live presentations.
Thanks for listening. This is Carmen Vertullo from Carver Consulting with the Fastener Training Minute.