The Challenge of Self-Loosening

The Challenge of Self-Loosening

Bossard has built its reputation on having mastered the science of fastening, and that includes developing innovative solutions for some of the most common challenges in the industry.

Self-loosening is chief among the challenges that the fastening industry has had to deal with. The mere mention of self-loosening is enough to draw the attention of product designers, production specialists, industrial engineers and maintenance and safety officers. The reason? It comes down to safety, and everyone is eager to listen where there are new solutions being presented.

Threaded fasteners can be found in transportation systems, recreational and sports equipment, testing and measuring equipment, digital gadgets and even children’s toys. The popularity of threaded fasteners is based largely on their numerous benefits, but we can’t forget about their weaknesses either.

And self-loosening is one of the most glaring risks with threaded fasteners.

Why do threaded fasteners self-loosen? In the simplest of terms, vibrations are what cause fasteners to loosen, in most cases. Vibrations lead to fatigue failure, as the clamp force on the joint is reduced and the fastener is then subjected to bending loads.

At the moment, there is no universal solution for countering the loosening of fasteners. But designers and engineers have emphasized the need to ensure there is sufficient clamp force on the joint interface, in addition to also producing a design that can withstand the effects of embedding and stress relaxation.

For a more in-depth discussion regarding self-loosening and other challenges associated with fastening, do not hesitate to contact Bossard at ProvenProductivity@bossard.com. You can also register with our company website to download a whitepaper with more information about self-loosening joints.