Screw connections that keep tight
Unique coating technology for large bolts and nuts
A surface specialist has expanded its production capacities and its portfolio of thread locking systems. The company invested in two modern special systems that can be used to coat the threads of screws and nuts up to size M30 in such a way that the connection is permanently secured.
Whether in mobility solutions or in plant engineering, in electric vehicles or wind turbines, bolts and nuts play a central role in connecting components to form a functioning whole. However, the demands placed on modern bolted connections are very high, as they must hold reliably with defined forces over the long term. And they have to do this both under load when stationary and under dynamic load, where they can lose their pretensioning force due to vibration, for example, and loosen on their own. This must not happen, especially in safety-relevant areas. The risk can be minimized by correctly selected and applied thread locking devices. It prevents bolts or nuts from simply loosening in the worst case scenario, thereby causing the bolted connections to fail.
Automatic loosening impossible
The Benseler Group has been offering solutions for this for many years through its subsidiary Benseler Beteo Oberflächentechnik at the Gummersbach site. For thread locking, the surface specialists focus on the chemical locking system precote from Omnitechnik, which offers solutions for locking, sealing, assembly and disassembly. This so-called microencapsulation system is an adhesive locking system: The adhesive - just like the hardener - is microencapsulated in the paint-like coating. The unused screw prepared with it is dry, does not stick and is easy to handle during storage and assembly. The thread lock is "activated" only when the screw is screwed into the mating thread. The pressure and shear stress that occur when the screw or nut is screwed into the mating threaded connection destroy the microcapsules contained in the binder system. This releases the adhesives and hardeners contained in them, which in turn mix and cure. After curing, automatic loosening of the screw connection is virtually impossible, because the adhesive in the thread forms a strong anti-loosening device. This is true both under dynamic load and after long service lives.
Further advantages of these adhesive locks are their applicability to threads of all types and that, in addition to preventing loosening, they can also have a good sealing effect, depending on the product selected. In addition, the surface specialists at Benseler partially apply a pre-coating with an adhesive, clamping or sealing function to the internal and external threads to secure the screws or nuts against loosening or loss.
Building on the know-how and many years of experience of its subsidiary Beteo, Benseler has now added this special service to its portfolio at the company's headquarters in Markgröningen. To this end, the surface specialist has invested in two modern systems that also take into account the concerns of soft handling - i.e. the particularly gentle handling of components in bulk and conveying processes during machining. Fully automated, these two machines can be used to coat the threads of screws in the range M5 to M14 and a maximum length of 100 mm, as well as nuts in the M12 to M30 size range and with outside diameters of up to 45 mm in series. "Particularly in the area of large nut dimensions, this special system closes a gap in the market," says Kerstin Genz, sales manager at Benseler Oberflächentechnik GmbH & Co. KG. "There are only a handful of suppliers who can coat thread lockers for nuts in this size range and with these outside diameters - we are one of them."
Corrosion protection and thread locking
With the new offer of thread locking coating, Benseler at the Markgröningen site offers a further step in the value chain of screws and nuts, in addition to the measuring 100-percent sorting and piece count-precise packaging. From zinc flake coating of the screw to automated sorting and thread locking to individually tailored packaging, customers from the fastener industry receive everything from a single source at Benseler.
The advantages of such a full-service concept for corrosion protection and thread locking are a continuous and consistently high quality standard, shorter throughput times, and the reduction of unwanted high inventories and transport costs.