Tag Archives: Quality

Multi-station Parts Forming: How Does a Parts Former Differ from a Nut Former?

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Reprint from China Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 187

What do Multi-station Formers Do?
Prior to considering the machine itself, we should first consider what consumers and manufacturers want from these machines. The answer to this question is pretty simple, consumers want quality parts, suited for the intended purpose at a reasonable price and manufacturers want to provide such parts with the most efficient processes or methods available. In other words, as parts become more complex and sophisticated they usually
become more challenging to manufacture. The manufacturer is motivated to remain competitive, and, therefore, must evolve their manufacturing capabilities to be as efficient as possible. Let us consider for example a high volume trimmed hex head part.

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Dr. Fastener: Aerospace Fasteners

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Reprint from China Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 186

Q: What are Aerospace Fasteners?
A: Aerospace Fasteners are fasteners that are used in aircraft and space vehicles. Normally the Aerospace Fastener market breaks into three segments; Commercial Aircraft, Business Jets, and Defense and Space. Many Aerospace Fasteners fall into similar categories as industrial and automotive fasteners, like bolts and screws, wrenchable nuts, and inserts but there are some fasteners that fall into categories only found in aerospace like pin and collars, anchor plates, and panel fasteners. Somewhere around 40% – 50% of all Aerospace Fasteners are made to National Aerospace Standards Committee (NASC) standards.

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Protecting Fasteners from Corroding Part 1: Basics of Corrosion and Protection Mechanisms

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Reprint from China Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 190

The man walked to his tool box, selected the right sized socket and returned to the piece of machinery he was trying to repair. He stared for a moment at the nut he was trying to loosen. It was badly corroded but he had done this many times before. Carefully seating the socket fully on the nut he began to apply pressure. At first nothing happened but then he felt a tiny change in the resistance, reinvigorating his incentive to keep pushing on the bar. Just as he thought he had given it his all, a resounding loud snap occurred catapulting him and his tools forward as his efforts were no longer restrained by the once stubborn but now broken bolt and nut. Crashing into the floor, he yelped in pain and cussed his misfortune.

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A Brief Summary of Accredation, Certification, and Approval Requirements for Aerospace Fasteners

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Reprint from China Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 52

Aerospace fasteners are uniquely different from industrial and automotive fasteners in a variety of way. One of the most striking differences between aerospace fasteners and other fastener market segments is the level of reliance on industry certifications, registrations, or regulatory oversight. In fact, in many segments of the market, customers only transact business with approved suppliers that have the right certifications, accreditations, or approvals.

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Troubleshooting Common Quality Issues in Wire Raw Material

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Reprint from Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 177

There are many ways that fastener manufacturers can make quality deficient parts. If one attempted to classify the source of all these different failure modes and quality issues, they likely would emerge with three or four general categories. One of these general categories and perhaps the single greatest contributor to end product quality issues is the quality of the raw material from which every fastener starts. This article will explore some of the most common quality issues related to raw material and seek to simply describe how each specific issue has an impact on final part quality.

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Understanding Aerospace Fastener Descriptions and Markings

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Reprint from Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 153

A great deal of manufactured fasteners are “standards”. This means that they conform to a set of instructions that have been established by industry experts to provide uniform and consistent product. Although one finds “standards” in all industry segments, the aerospace fastener segment seems to have a higher percentage than most others.

In fact, over 40% of the aerospace fastener consumption can be classified as “standards”. Although the word standard lends itself to suggesting simplicity, in reality many parts considered “aerospace standards” are, in reality, very sophisticated, highly engineered parts. Unfortunately, because of the vast assortment of standards and the complexity level that some are achieving, navigating and understanding aerospace standards can sometimes be a challenge. This article is intended to demystify and explain some of the nuances of aerospace standard part description and marking practices.

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The Importance of Consensus Standards – Protecting all Participants in the Fastener Supply Chain

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Reprint from Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 148

Imagine a world without standards or one characterized by many competing standards. It probably does not take too long for a picture to emerge in your mind. Think back, for example, to cell phones ten years ago. If your cell phone communicated using a standard that was not available within the local network, you did not get service. This frustrated many an international traveler who expected their phone to work in the country they were visiting only to find that their phone communicated with a different standard than the local one and therefore did not work. Or for those old enough to recall, take for example, the battle between VHS and Betamax video formats. Although today both video replication formats are pretty much retired, how frustrating it was then for the owner of a player of one format to be unable to play a cassette in the other format. These are not isolated examples. Every day we touch and depend on a wide variety of items and technologies to perform in uniform and predictable ways. When things and people fail to perform in the ways we have come to expect, a great deal of frustration, inconvenience, and chaos normally ensues.

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Why a Formal Quality Management System Makes Good Business Sense

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From Link Magazine, Fall 2014

On a cold night in April 1912 one of the world’s most enigmatic disasters unfolded, the sinking of what The White Star Line dubbed as the “unsinkable” ship, the RMS Titanic. Like many such events, discrepancies in eyewitness accounts, the passage of time, and the lack of hard evidence, has led to multiple theories and ideas over the years about what really happened. Suffice it to say though, the most likely explanation is that no one thing was responsible but rather many “small” things came together in the “perfect storm”. This cavalcade of events conspired against the passengers and crew on that fateful night to sink the “unsinkable” ship and seal its place in history as one of the all-time worst maritime accidents.

Although a hundred years later, we’re still searching for answers and one of the recent and more plausible theories that has been proposed has to do with, of all things…

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Characterization of Flow Drill Screwdriving Process Parameters on Joint Quality

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From SAE International, September 2014

Abstract: A state of the art proprietary method for aluminum-to-aluminum joining in the automotive industry is Resistance Spot Welding. However, with spot welding (1) structural performance of the joint may be degraded through heat-affected zones created by the high temperature thermal joining process, (2) achieving the double-sided access necessary for the spot welding electrodes may limit design flexibility, and (3) variability with welds leads to production inconsistencies. Self-piercing rivets have been used before; however they require different rivet/die combinations depending on the material being joined, which adds to process complexity. In recent years the introductions of screw products that combine the technologies of friction drilling and thread forming have entered the market. These types of screw products do not have these access limitations as through-part connections are formed by one-sided access using a thermo-mechanical flow screwdriving process with minimal heat. The friction drilling, thread forming process, hereto referred to as “FDS” is an automated continuous process that allows multi-material joining by utilizing a screw as both the tool and the fastener. The process uses the friction caused by the rotating screw to pierce and extrude the material. Threads are then created in this formed extrusion which allows the fastener to be screwdriven into the parts. A final torquing then securely clamps together the sheets of material. This study explores the quality design space as represented by resultant joint geometry as a function of the critical process parameters of fastener force and drilling speed. Feasible design space regions are explored to determine how process parameters affect joint geometry, and strength testing performed to validate the findings. (Article No.: SAE 2014-01-2241)

Available for Purchase on SAE International: http://papers.sae.org/2014-01-2241/