Heat Treating Fasteners

Fasteners are pretty standard and common pieces of hardware, used in almost every aerospace and aviation application possible. However, because of the delicate and critical nature of these industries, sometimes fasteners, as they are, aren’t enough. Heat-treating allows manufacturers to alter fasteners in order to achieve the desired level of rigidity, smoothness, malleability, and strength to suit their client’s needs. So, it’s important to keep a few things in mind when heat-treating fasteners.

The chemistry of the elements involved in the heat-treating process is very important. For example, boron is a common hardening agent used to affect the formability and machinability, but an excess of 0.003% can ruin the fasteners strength. Paying attention to the chemistry of all the elements involved can make the difference between achieving the desired results and effectively destroying them.

Contaminants and impurities may seem trivial on something like a screw, but when it comes to mission-critical applications like aerospace and aviation, the smallest imperfection of aviation industry fasteners can be disastrous. Proper cleaning and drying is a simple way to make them last longer.

Mishandling is another thing to worry about. Mishandling can lead to damaged threads or bends in the fastener, which can also be disastrous when the fastener ends up in a mission-critical application. Any damage to the thread can cause the fastener to not be as secure as it should be. It’s easy to inspect the handling process and making sure that the fasteners are not unnecessarily jostled.

Annealing is an important part of heat-treating that allows for the formability of the steel. It’s also a step where the fastener can easily be compromised if manufacturers are not careful. Taking control of the annealing operation and making sure that all goes well can ensure that the fasteners do not end up with cracks.

Fasteners are, despite their appearances, a very critical part of a lot of applications. So, it’s important to have the right fasteners heat-treated to the right parameters. When manufacturers take control of the entire heat-treating process and do it right, their customers don’t have to worry. You also don’t have to worry when you’re in need of fasteners for your next project. We, at ASAP Part Services, owned and operated by ASAP Semiconductor, are one of the leading suppliers of fasteners and aviation components, and we can help you find the parts you need. Just email us at sales@asap-partservices.com to get started.