If you’re designing plastic assemblies that need to be taken apart and reassembled, you already understand that standard plastic threads simply won’t cut it. But understanding why threaded inserts are not just beneficial, but actually critical requires looking at the fundamental material science challenges that plastics present for threaded connections.
When plastics engineers think about threaded inserts, the focus often goes straight to the insert itself, looking at attributes such as knurl pattern, installation method and material selection. But here’s what gets overlooked: the insert is only as good as the load path supporting it. A perfectly specified insert installed
If you’re a plastics engineer working on automotive applications, thermal cycling is undoubtedly a four-letter word in your world. After all, it’s one of the most punishing environments your components will face. In addition, it places stress1 on not only your plastic and composite parts, but also places strain on
How They’re Determined by the SAE, and How They’re Identified by Markings on the Fastener Head Automotive bolted joints operate under demanding cyclic loads, high temperatures, and increasingly lightweight designs. As a result, understanding bolt grades – and the standards behind them-is essential for fastener engineers working in OEM, Tier
Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) have transformed aerospace, automotive, and high-performance applications by delivering exceptional strength-to-weight ratios and fatigue resistance. But how do you create reliable threaded connections in a material that’s fundamentally different from the metals we’ve been fastening for over a century? Threaded inserts. However, their performance in
When purchasing threaded inserts for plastic assemblies, the material choice directly impacts performance, cost, and reliability. While we’ve litigated this topic before, we keep seeing additional interest in our data, we thought we might provide something a little easier to digest about threaded inserts. Brass absolutely dominates the market. We’re
When you’re designing fasteners for potential project, understanding the manufacturing process can significantly impact your design decisions, costs, and product performance. One of these fastener manufacturing processes, cold heading – also called cold forming – is one of the most efficient and reliable manufacturing processes for producing high-strength fasteners and
Explore the critical differences between plating, coating, and anodizing, and learn how each surface treatment impacts fastener performance, corrosion resistance, and application-specific design. When designing assemblies for demanding environments, surface treatment is one of the most important fastener design decisions engineers can make. It is just as critical as fastener
As car designers accelerate the integration of lightweight materials into vehicle designs, collaboration between plastics and fastener engineers has become an imperative. Nowhere is this more evident than during the prototyping and pre-production stages, where fastener choices can significantly influence part performance, manufacturability, and long-term durability. When fastener integration is
Fasteners used with plastics and composites are subjected to different forces than ones used in metals and other materials. Plastics respond in a completely different manner than metals when subjected to mechanical loads. They exhibit behaviors such as creep, anisotropy, and variable tensile strength depending on polymer type and fiber
