The requirements of fasteners are forever changing across all industries, as OEMs seek to get the most of components in their products. From demanding the lightest of fasteners to the shift of permanent components in electric vehicles, and even seeking more efficient fasteners, the role these components play is changing globally.
Lightweighting
Using lightweight fasteners is key across a variety of industry builds. Lightweighting is the process of making an object that weighs less without compromising its performance or strength. Manufacturers achieve this by replacing standard materials with lighter-weight alternatives that provide greater strength-to-weight ratios or making fundamental design changes – one example of this is hollowing out solid areas of the object.
Also, using lighter fasteners and less materials in your build helps to reduce the consumption of natural resources, CO2 emissions and the amount of waste that is sent to landfills. All of these reductions save energy and reduce the manufacturers overall carbon footprint, a big goal for OEMs.
Permanent Fasteners
With the growing development of electric vehicles and consumer products, permanent fasteners are required by manufacturers to secure their components indefinitely. For electric vehicles, their service procedures are very different to internal combustion vehicles.
In the majority of these vehicles, the electric motor assembly is designed not to be removed or repaired, making permanent fasteners the perfect component to secure systems together because they are single use and can’t be removed once installed, as well as offer better safety, durability and withstand greater loads than temporary fasteners.
Thermal Conductivity
Following on from the development of electric vehicles, modern fasteners are required to have thermal conductivity properties to aid in heat dissipation within the vehicle. This is a key requirement for fasteners due to the heat electric vehicles generated during operation.
