Put to the test

1 min read

Nobody wants to see adhesively bonded fasteners falling off unexpectedly. bigHead has taken steps to ensure this doesn’t happen.

Applying anti-corrosion coatings, plating or other treatments to bigHead fasteners means that one is no longer working with a steel substrate for the purposes of adhesive bonding, the company states.

“Whilst a selected adhesive may be excellent for bonding steel, it may not be so compatible with different coatings or treatments. Sometimes, the coating or treatment itself can also be an issue, especially if it is susceptible to failure or detachment at loads that one would typically expect the adhesively bonded fastener to withstand,” says the company.

When it came to anti-corrosion coatings, it explored the compatibility between different adhesive systems and different coatings and treatments. This it did by preparing test specimens and mechanically testing them. “We began by supporting student projects at Cranfield University, which grew into a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP). We now have our own bigHead testing laboratory for doing this work. The testing and evaluation helped us identify potential lack of adhesion, cure inhibition issues or coating detachment issues – some of which are undetectable by visual examination alone. With this information, we can help our customers and clients decide on the right fastener coating or treatment for a given application.”

The great benefit to all this? Safety and reliability for everyone by minimising the chance of fastening failure due to adhesive and coating incompatibility.