A Fastener is a fastening hardware device that mechanically joins or attaches two or more objects. Usually, fasteners make non-permanent joints, i.e., joints that can be removed or disassembled without harming the joining components.
Fasteners are often an unnoticed, integral part of any application that most people don't give much attention to until they need to use it. The fastener's material is equally as important as its size specifications.
Fasteners can be manufactured from various materials and further enhanced by coatings, platings, and finishing treatments. No matter what type of fastener you need – screw, nut, rivet, bolt, washer, etc. – selecting the appropriate material for the intended application is critical to both results and reliability.
Several factors must be considered to select the proper material for a fastener. There are four main criteria that need to be assessed to choose the appropriate fastener material. Those are:
1. The load or stress
2. Strength
3. Resistance properties
4. Temperatures
* The load or stress: When selecting a material to assemble your fasteners from, you must take into consideration the proof load, the yield strength, and the durability of the particular material.
• The proof load, or stress, is measured in pounds per square inch and indicates the minimum acceptable limitation the fastener will tolerate. Regarding fasteners, pure steel and low-carbon steel have the lowest adequate proof load.
• The yield strength indicates the load at which the fastener will forever deform.
• The tensile (or ultimate) strength means the load that will smash the fastener.
Resistance Properties:
Deterioration wears metal down due to the material's interaction with chemicals in the nearby environment. The most common type of deterioration is oxidation, which causes when the metal reacts to oxygen and rust. Typically to combat deterioration, the fasteners will need a safe coating applied, such as chrome or zinc. Otherwise, if suitable, the fastener could be manufactured from a material that does not corrode, like non-ferrous metals or plastic alloys.
Temperatures
You need to pay attention to the average temperatures that the fastener will be required to manage to be sure that the material can handle it. Plastics and non-ferrous alloys have no spot in environments with sweltering temperatures. Others can become frail in extreme cold and lose their ductility.
What are the common materials used to make fasteners?
Here is a quick list:
• Metals, such as Aluminum, Brass, Bronze, Steel, Stainless Steel, Monel, Inconel, and many more.