Design of An Automated Assembly Line for Manufacturing Visual Tension Indicating Fasteners

Abstract

Threaded fasteners play a major role in mechanical assemblies to clamp components or flanges. While bolted joints have been in use for many centuries and are simple to design and use, they are not foolproof; it is often difficult to achieve the required clamping force accurately by applying the designer-prescribed tightening torque, determined assuming ideal conditions of the contacting surfaces. Therefore, a concept that can directly measure tension on bolted joints is necessary. In this work, the concept of visual tension indicating fasteners is introduced and explained. After testing the feasibility of the concept, an automated assembly line is designed and fabricated in order to produce these fasteners with a more reliable manufacturing process.