Guide to Threaded Fasteners

Guide to Threaded Fasteners

According to SAE International, fastener experts believe upwards of 95% of all fastener failures are the result of either the wrong fastener for the job or improper installation.

It’s important for those working in the engineering and construction industries to be aware of the different types of threaded fastener and be equipped with the threaded fastener basics in order to make the right selection.

How Threaded Fasteners work
All threaded fasteners contain a spiralling ‘ramp’ on a cylindrical shaft. This ramp is a simple mechanism designed to convert a torque, or rotational force, into a linear force and is referred to as a thread.

When these threads are on the outside of a cylindrical shaft this is referred to as an external or male thread, and a cylindrical hole with a thread is an internal or female thread.

As the internal and external threads interact they convert rotational motion into linear motion. Threaded fasteners are almost always intended to be used to fasten two or more pieces of material together.

Why use Threaded Fasteners?
Threaded fasteners are strongest in tension stress (being pulled apart) rather than in shear stress (being slid apart). As a result, they are able to prevent parts from sliding relative to each other through their clamp force.

They provide more strength than non-threaded fasteners and can be conveniently reversed, hence they are ideal for applications where materials need to be joined and then disassembled with ease.

Any industry in which you need to create strong but non-permanent joints between materials will benefit from using threaded fasteners, this includes the engineering, construction and metal fabrication industries.

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