When we work with our partners, we see them go through some of the same engineering struggles again and again when they’re considering fasteners. One of the most common challenges manufacturers face is deciding between off-the-shelf fasteners or custom options tailored to their specific project needs. Designing a new product
Why traditional fastener designs may not work Over the last two decades – especially with the advent of heavy batteries in the automotive industry – the race for lightweight and high-performance composite assemblies has taken center stage. These assemblies, typically made from composites like carbon fiber and CFRP have become
When it comes to mechanical fastening, engineers often focus on bolt strength—after all, it’s doing the heavy lifting, right? But there’s more to the story. In a bolted joint, the relationship between bolt grade and nut grade plays a critical role in the strength, safety, and serviceability of the assembly.
Choosing the right bolt means knowing how it fails and when it bends too far to bounce back When designing or specifying fasteners, strength is everything, but not all strength is created equal. Two key properties – yield strength and tensile strength – tell very different stories about how a
Noise, Vibration and Harshness (NVH) has long been a critical metric for buyers when deciding the overall quality of a vehicle. That’s why we, as fastener and plastics engineers, have to begin thinking about NVH quite literally at the nuts and bolts level. Whether you’re talking about EVs or traditional
At CFI, we engineer custom screws nuts and bolts every day. One of the methods we use is called Cold Heading or Cold Forming. To answer the basic question, there is no difference between cold forming and cold heading, so the terms are truly interchangeable. The real difference is between
At CFI, we a majority of the people that we deal with are engineers. However, we do deal with “civilians” on a regular basis as well. That’s why we’ve put together a nice glossary of fastener terms for you to reference. Many of these are physics terms that are important
Quality Control in the component industry demands top-tier equipment—here’s what it is and how it helps clients The QC department plays a vital role in the industrial component industry, however there is a big difference between a world class QA/QC operation and a more pedestrian operation. In a standard industrial
How CFI’s ISO certification ensures consistent quality management and how it applies to the component industry Regardless of the industry, quality management is essential for success – especially with today’s discerning customers. In order to deliver a high-caliber product, that standard must go all the way down to the base
When you learn about the components industry, you can truly get into the weeds about the different types of threads. Here is a complete breakdown of the most commonly used thread types. While the most common types of threads are straight threads and tapered threads, there are several other types
