Effectiveness of epoxy staking of fasteners in aerospace applications

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of locking or staking of fasteners with epoxy material systems to prevent loss of preload in aerospace environments.

Design/methodology/approach

A quantitative experimental method is adopted to evaluate epoxy material systems for staking of fastener assemblies subjected to varying dynamic and thermal loads. A statistical design of experiments is employed to probe specific design parameters.

Findings

Results show that epoxy application can provide satisfactory fastener locking under a variety of service conditions. It is found that: Epon 828 epoxy provides superior fastener locking compared to 3M Scotch‐Weld Epoxy 2216; epoxy application around screw threads is more effective than application around screw head; and abrading the plate surfaces with 180 grit SiC paper is not an effective or useful surface preparation technique.

Research limitations/implications

The paper is limited to two commercial epoxy material systems and does not consider important qualitative considerations for industrial use such as cure time and viscosity.

Practical implications

This and future paper may form the basis of new standards for epoxy staking in the global aerospace industry.

Originality/value

This paper is believed to be one of the very few original experimental studies of fastener staking available in the open literature.

Citation

Salmon, S., Swank, M., Janaki Ram, G.D., Stucker, B.E. and Palmer, J.A. (2009), "Effectiveness of epoxy staking of fasteners in aerospace applications", Assembly Automation, Vol. 29 No. 4, pp. 341-347. https://doi.org/10.1108/01445150910987754