A long-term issue in the automotive industry has been how to create reliable ground connections to vehicle body panels. The traditional method of welding nuts, studs or nut stud assemblies to body panels and brackets did not work well, due to poor weld performance, corrosion, and long-term reliability.
The recent trend towards using lightweight materials such as aluminium within vehicle structures and subsystems has further complicated the issue. In addition, the increasing number of electrical features in vehicles for convenience and safety systems and powertrain management has made many OEMs drive even more urgently for a solution.
Since Profil studs are self-piercing, they make a neat hole through the sheet metal component, the supplier says.
It says that benefits include: pure mechanical attachments; suitable for use with surface-treated, galvanized or painted components; water-tight and gas-tight in reference to the requirements demanded by the automotive sector, no extra sealing or O-ring required; high resistance to twist and ejection forces, even for thin sheet metals.
