Know-How Bolts and Rivets Promote Safety In Manufacturing Industry

Plastic is everywhere and for the right reason. It’s a strong and affordable product that could be made into nearly any kind of part you can think of.

However, before it can be used in our products for consumption, it must be moulded into shapes. The molten substance is then injected into the mould cavity employing presses, where it cools and sets.

Presses can be as big as a house with two stories, and the moulds, which are in pairs and have to be secured to the platen of the press, can weigh the same as a fully-loaded dump truck.

Bolts that secure moulds onto the presses are a crucial security feature of injection moulding. However, it can be difficult to ensure they are secure.

The problem of making sure moulds are secure stems from three major bolting issues that injection moulders have to face during their day-to-day operations:

• Maintaining a high volume of bolt installation with different demands for clamp load.
• Identifying bolts incorrectly installed.
• Finding loose bolts.

In addition to these primary problems, from our own experiences, we’ve found that there’s no standard industry-wide consensus on how to secure injection moulds properly.

Certain manufacturers have developed masonry fixings that contain notes on calculating the number of bolts needed to attach moulds to platens.

What Happens When The Bolt Is Tightened?

If you use a standard wrench to plastic plugs, the force applied to the nut causes it to move across the general direction of threads. The relative movement between bolts and nuts will reduce the distance between bolt bearings and nuts.

This is the length of the grip on the joint that is bolted. If the joints inside the grip are in opposition to the bolt, it starts to expand like a stiff spring, creating tension while simultaneously pressing the parts together, creating the crucial clamp force.

What Are The Issues With Installation That Are Related To Through-Bolts?

Just as their name suggests, the through bolt is ideal for installations that require through-fix because they can be fixed directly through the fixture to the substrate. This type of installation is vulnerable to placing a significant amount of strain on the substrate.

It is crucial to make use of a concrete fixing while installing a through-bolt. It is not feasible to do so without one. The torque applied creates the anchor and creates the force for clamping.

It is typical for installers to tighten through-bolts by using a long lever. You might think tighter is better, but the only thing this can do is overload the anchor.

If you torque too much on the through bolt, you risk the risk of your fixture shifting after relaxation. Therefore, it is crucial to utilise the torque wrench when installing the anchor properly.

When installing through bolts, it’s important to drill the right size hole. The diameter of which is listed in the instructions of the manufacturer.

How Do You Set A Through-Bolt Guideline?

A through bolt must be set with a torque wrench set to the appropriate torque setting. BS 8539 gives additional guidance:

The anchors should be tightened according to the recommended torque of the manufacturer’s setting. That will ensure that the anchors are always set to meet the maximum load and that the anchor’s material isn’t stressed too much.

Anchors for expansion should not be secured to keep between them because when the anchor expands, it could increase the stress load on the substrate and lead to the material (concrete) in the end cracking.

Do You Be Tightening The Head Of The Bolt Or Nuts?

Both are acceptable, but the torque figure used for tightening the head will not always mean it applies to tightening the nut. Tightening Head vs Nut can produce different factors for nuts and consequently changing the torque needed to achieve the right preload.

Why Is It Important To Know Bolt Preload? What Is Its Significance?

Preload refers to the tension that is produced by a fastener after the bolt is tightened. The tensile force generated by the bolt causes a compressive force in the bolted joint, which is known as the clamping force.

Practically speaking, it is assumed that the clamping force of holesaws will be assumed to be the same as and opposite of the preload.

If the proper preload, or clamp force, isn’t established and maintained, the risk of having a range of issues like joint separation and self-loosening caused by vibrations could affect the bolted joint, leading to joint failure.

Why Do Bolts Break?

There could be a myriad of reasons for bolts to become looser when in use. When we use the term “loosen”, here we mean loosen their tension or preload. There are five main causes:

• Vibrations cause transverse movement of bolted components, which can lead to the self-loosening of the bolt.
• The bolted joint relaxes the following tightening due to an embedment of the bolt or gasket.
• Elastic interactions happen when multiple bolts are in a joint with bolts.

The added force useful to joint tools through tightening the bolt could modify the tension applied to other tightened bolts. Elastic interactions can reduce or increase the preload of a bolt, making it harder to anticipate.

The Components’ Temperature Fluctuation

The design of the M10 130mm Forgefix Concrete Bolts may reduce the amount of relaxation and embedment. Also, properly designed bolted joints well-loaded and properly loaded should not be able to self-loosen!

Having a sufficient preload before installation will reduce the impact of vibration and the likelihood of transverse movement relative to the other.

How Do You Define Proof Load? How Does It Differ From Yield Strength Or Strength!

Each of these is a fundamental mechanical property that determines the expected tensile strength of a specific fastener. These can be determined in units of force.

Proof load refers to the highest tensile force applied to bolts, which does not cause deformation of the material. Also, the material should be in its elastic zone as it is loaded to its maximum load. The typical proof load is between 85-95 percent of yield strength.

Yield strength is defined as the force that produces an amount of permanent deformation (most often 0.2 per cent) in a particular fastener. The ultimate tensile strength is the highest force that a particular fastener must endure before breaking.