Tools

Your choice of fastener has a big impact on Design for Manufacturability and bolted joint design. Fastener selection requires careful planning to avoid product failure and manage quality and cost of your assembly.  With Bossard’s readily-available inventory of over 200,000 different screws, nuts, washers, pins, rivets, threaded inserts, screws, clip fasteners, surface bonding fasteners, clinching solutions, and multiple other industrial accessories, taking advantage of the Bossard tools and calculators below can help you choose the right one.

As a mechanical engineer, you have a lot to consider in your design.  Material to be joined, Clamp load, Stress, Temperature, Shear, Torque, Coefficient of friction, Corrosion – Solving any of these design problems can be made a lot easier using multiple Bossard calculators and converters. These ready-made tools are heavily relied upon by engineers, technicians, designers, project managers, and students and are outlined below.

Bossard Online Converters

The following Bossard online converters are used to convert various units of measure.

• Length Converter: This converter accesses upwards of 68 different units of measure and converts inches, centimeters, meters, miles, KMs, feet, yards, etc.

• Torque Converter: Calibrated torque wrenches are essential in some industries. This tool converts different torque values such as kilonewton meter, newton meter, newton centimeter, kilogram-force meter, once force inch, etc.

• Pressure Converter: Bossard’s pressure converter converts various pressure units such as PSI, bar, millibar, pascal, ton/square foot, pound/square foot, etc.

• Force Converter: Another simple-to-use converter that can convert newton, meganewton, kilonewton, dyne, kilogram-force, ounce force, etc.

• Metric to Inch Fastener Converter: Ideal solution for converting metric to inch fastener forces.

• Hardness Converter: Ideal tool for hardness-to-hardness measurement (Rockwell, Brinell, Vickers) and hardness-to-tensile strength conversion of cast iron and low-alloy steels.

Online Calculators for Design/Production

Bossard offers a comprehensive line of online calculators for technical design and production requirements.

• Metric Thread Profile Calculator: This calculator is based on ISO 965-1:1998, ISO 68-1:1998, and ASME B1.13M-2005, allowing you to calculate metric thread geometry.

• Pilot Hole Design for Metric Thread Formers: DIN 7500:2009 calculator for calculating hole size for metric thread forming screws.

• Selection of Material and Coatings for Corrosion Protection: Ideal for any situation where choosing protective coatings is critical to corrosion protection.

• Drill Hole Size for Tapped Threads: Instantly calculates the proper tap drill size for screws.

• Pilot Hole Design for Tapping Screws: Calculates the ideal hole diameter for tapping screws.

• Pilot Hole Design for ecosyn®-Plast: Calculator determines boss geometry for thermoplastic resin types for ecosyn®-plast.

• Tolerances for Shafts and Holes: Easily calculate hole and shaft tolerances.

Online Calculators for Technical Design

• Estimation of Bolt Size and Property Class: Calculator to determine the required diameter and property class.

• Disc Spring Calculator: DIN-2093 Calculator for disc springs with geometry, values, and properties.

• Cost Savings Calculator: Insightful tool allows you to calculate activity costs and uncover potential savings.

• Thread Engagement Length Calculator: Simple calculator for calculating thread engagement for blind-hole and through-hole to determine sufficient thread engagement length.

• Torque and Preload With Nut Factor: Uses basic formula of T = D*K*F to calculate tightening torque and preload with nut factor for screws (inches).

• Torque and Preload with Nut Factor and Tool Accuracy – Inch: Allows you to calculate tightening torque and preload using the formula T = D*K*F mean.

• Torque and Preload with Nut Factor and Tool Accuracy – Metric: Same tool as above but in metric.

• Torque and Preload with Friction Scatter: Calculator based on VDI 2230: 2014 that calculates tightening torque for hex and socket head screws.

• Torque and Preload for Customized Geometry and Material: Another calculator based on VDI 2230:2014. This one calculates pressure, preload, and tightening torque for socket head and countersunk screws by accounting for multiple head shapes, materials reduced, chanks, and hole champers.

• Torque and Preload Calculator: Yet another calculator incorporating VDI 2230:2014, capable of calculating tightening torque, surface pressure, and preload values for head and socket head screws.

Each of these tools is accessible to all and free to use under the terms as set forth under Imprint. If you need any guidance, help, or have questions about a new project of yours, contact us today and speak with a Bossard Assembly Technology Expert.

EMAIL US

When you come to Bossard for fastening solutions, our engineers may recommend rivet nuts, which typically have access from two sides. Blind rivet nuts allow access only from one side making them suitable for more flexible applications in agriculture, residential lighting, trucking and transportation, mining, and solar or green energy, among others. They’re useful, for example, when you want to join brittle or thin materials that may shatter with ordinary nuts.

Choosing the correct blind rivet nut is one half of the fastening solution. The other is selecting the right installation.

Types of Tools

The following are some of the most popular options from our tooling portfolio:

• Spin/spin tool: After you thread the blind rivet nut onto the mandrel of the pneumatic power tool, the tool inserts the nut into the hole of your application. The tool then spins the mandrel to pull the threaded part of the shank to the blind side of the application, which creates a bulge around the unthreaded part. As the bulge pushes against the rear of the panel, it grips the sheet. After securing the nut in place, the mandrel removes itself from the nut by spinning in the opposite direction. The internal threads of the nut remain unaffected.
• Spin/pull tool: Pulls the mandrel back a specific distance to set the nut.
• “Pull to pressure” or “force control” tool: Pulls the mandrel back to a specific pressure.
• “Pull to stroke” or “stroke control” tool: Pulls the mandrel back to a specific stroke distance or thickness.

More Considerations

Other questions to ask when deciding on installation equipment include the following:

• What are the sizes of the blind rivet nuts? We offer M3 to M12, or, if you prefer, can deliver specifications in inches.
• Do you prefer the control and finesse of hand tools or the efficiency and strength of battery-powered or pneumatic tools?
• What materials are you fastening? Aluminum, steel, stainless steel, or high-strength steel need different equipment. For example, spin/pull tools are ideal for fastening plastic components and pull-to-pressure tools work well for metal or hard plastic.
• What other options do you want: real-time process monitoring with multistage programming, force/stroke curve documentation, upgrade modules like Wi-Fi or barcode readers?

Want to learn more? Then please use the form to the right to contact us and a Bossard representative will get in touch with you shortly.

Self-drilling screws are unique, multi-functional screws. They are designed to drill its own hole into metal and then form threads into the hole. Often used for attachment of steel siding or roofing, they can also be used in other applications where a premade hole is not possible or convenient. While these screws can be a great solution for your application, here are 4 things to keep in mind:

1. Length of Drill Flute

The length of the drill flute must be longer than the thickness of the material being drilled. If the material is too thick, the chips cannot escape, which will cause excessive heat and damage to the screw or mating material. The point length must be long enough to complete the drilling operation before threading starts, otherwise damage may occur.

2. Thread Pitch

For thinner sheet metal applications, a coarse thread (wider thread spacing) is recommended. For thicker metal, (3/8 to 1/2″ thick) a fine thread will work better, creating less drive torque.

3. Thread Length

The thread length of the screw should be sufficient to fully engage into the base metal, keeping in mind that the first few threads are not fully formed. Two to three threads should show on the back side of the base material.

4. Installation Tools

Specialty-corded and cordless tools are available specifically for drill screws which run up to 2500 RPMs for fast setting of screws. Standard drills or drivers may be used as well, but impact drivers are not recommended for hard joint applications that are considered structural. Depth gages are often incorporated into the nose of the tool to disengage the head after it has been properly set. Some tools may also have an adjustable clutch that will allow for proper setting torque.

Do you have an aluminum or stainless-steel application which requires corrosion resistant self-drilling screws? Checkout our ecosyn®-MRX screw!

Looking for a self drilling screw supplier, or have additional questions? Contact us at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com!

For more shopping options click here.

Doug Jones
Applications Engineer
djones@bossard.com

Nuts are designed with a specific proof load strength and thickness that when paired with the proper grade or property class of bolt, the nut will always be stronger. This is good joint design, but what precautions should be taken when designing without nuts and into blind threaded holes?

The main things you need to be concerned with when designing joints with tapped holes are material strength and thread engagement. Generally, you are stuck with a specific material, so the one variable you can change is the depth of thread engagement. Below is a rough guide take from IFI’s “Mechanical Fastening and Joining” handbook by Bengt Blendulf:

Thread Engagement Chart

For more information on thread engagement, check out our technical section at www.bossard.com and try out our thread engagement calculator which is also available as an iPhone app, or contact us at ProvenProductivity@Bossard.com.

Doug Jones
Applications Engineer
Email: djones@bossard.com