Product category:
Mechanical fasteners, fixing and joining, and equipment
News Release from: Scana UK | Subject: Truload intelligent fasteners
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 April 2005
Intelligent fasteners remove tightening
errors
Intelligent fasteners offer cost-effective means of monitoring the integrity of industrial fasteners throughout their lifetime and remove the inaccuracies from the bolt tightening process.
British engineering company Scana UK has launched truload, marking a significant advance in the world of industrial fasteners truload utilises proven, patented technology to remove the inaccuracies from the bolt tightening process
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 8 Jul 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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For example, two apparently identical bolts, tightened with equal torque, can produce vastly differing loads.
This is largely due to variable friction resulting from slight differences in lubrication, washer specification, thread quality, material selection, cleanliness and service history.
If a bolt is incorrectly loaded, it can be become loose or fracture.
Either scenario could have significant consequences.
A comprehensive maintenance programme goes some way towards ensuring that a load-bearing fastener will retain its integrity.
However, this is not sufficient to eliminate unplanned downtime or lost revenue due to fastener failure.
Moreover, there are safety concerns and environmental impact to be considered.
Scana UK has long sought to improve standards of maintenance and service, researching and developing techniques to remove the uncertainty from traditional fastener systems by ensuring that every bolt is tightened precisely.
The product of this research and development is Truload.
Truload is a range of intelligent fasteners that provide accurate loading during assembly and throughout service life.
Variable friction can account for a load difference of as much as 75% between identical bolts tightened to the same torque, providing actual loads of almost 50% of expected values.
Truload allows the load in each fastener to be directly measured.
This means that the effects of variable friction can be eliminated, ensuring that every fastener performs to its optimum capability.
Truload's patented technology is easy to use, is a direct replacement for existing bolts or studs and offers a range of tangible benefits: * Boosts efficiency - not only are bolts loaded correctly first time, they can be easily spot-checked or continually monitored to track performance throughout their working life.
This deeper insight allows maintenance downtime to be planned in advance - minimising disruption and improving the efficiency of core processes.
* Saves money - Truload reduces the costs associated with routine maintenance, replacing damaged bolts, repairing defective joints or, worse still, accounting for incidents occurring as a result of joint failure.
* Improves safety and environmental performance - depending on the application, the result of fastener failure can have significant safety and environmental consequences.
A truload system optimises safety standards and minimises environmental impact Performance under pressure - Truload meets the rigorous demands of a broad range of industrial applications including process facilities, road haulage, railway transport, pipelines, civil structures, power generation, and military and aerospace applications.
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