Fastener Tensile Strength Vs. Yield Strength: Which Is More Important?
During the manufacture of electronics and other products, it’s usually necessary to incorporate the use of fasteners in the design process. It’s critical that you always try to get this right. Using fasteners such as aluminum hex tap bolts and titanium carriage bolts will only work for you if you get the technical issues right. To do this, you will need to gain a basic understanding of the mechanics behind fastener use.
One of the important things to take note of is the difference between tensile strength and yield strength. It is important to know the difference between these two since it will help you figure out how to get the right fasteners for the job.
What are they all about?
In a nutshell, the tensile strength and the yield strength of a fastener describe the overall strength of the fastener. It is important for any project manager to be sure about what they want in terms of strength when buying fasteners. This is because it has an impact on the value for money they are likely to get. When you spend a lot of money on a very strong fastener for an application that does not need that much strength, you will have spent too much money for nothing. On the other hand, if you get fasteners that are not strong enough for a particular application, you will definitely have to deal with issues such as fastener failures. This would translate to a loss of money. The yield strength and the fastener tensile strength are two values you can use to pick a fastener with the right amount of strength.
The yield strength
The yield strength is a measure of how much the fastener will take for it to deform by around 0.2%. The deformation is usually measured as a change in the size or shape of the fastener. This value is usually chosen since it is the threshold at which the fastener starts to fail.
The tensile strength
The tensile strength is a measure of how much force the fastener can bear. It is usually tested in a controlled environment such as a lab. In all cases, the tensile strength is usually a lot higher than the yield strength. At this point, it’s common to note that the fastener becomes ripped apart.
Which one should you consider when choosing fasteners?
If you are going to buy fasteners and want them to bear huge forces, it would be wiser for you to use the tensile strength as a marker for which type of fastener to get. If you get fasteners whose tensile strengths are much higher than the maximum load they will be subjected to, you can be sure that they will not even deform under the conditions you put them in.
It is important to note that when you are evaluating the strength of fasteners, you also need to consider the environmental conditions they will be used in. For instance, too much heat could reduce the yield strength of a material, and you need to factor for it when specifying which types of fasteners you need.
About the Author
Started my career in the fastener world in 1969 at, Parker Kalon Corp. a NJ based screw manufacturer located in Clifton, NJ working in inventory control, scheduling secondary production and concluding there in purchasing. In 1971 I accepted a sales position at Star Stainless Screw Co., Totowa, NJ working in inside sales and later as an outside salesman, having a successful career at Star I had the desire with a friend to start our own fastener distribution company in 1980 named: Divspec, Kenilworth, NJ. This was a successful adventure but ended in 1985 with me starting Melfast in August 1985 and have stayed competitive and successful to date. Melfast serves the OEM market with approximately 400 accounts nationally.
