Do more with less: less weight, less cost, and less time

01 April 2019

The call for ‘lightweighting’ has led to significant advancements in how products are designed and constructed. Technology gains have resulted in new and exciting possibilities, but they have also created a unique set of joint design problems.

Our lessons learned from fastening traditional materials such as steel, do not translate to the ‘new’ composite materials, GRP or aluminium joints. Fortunately, proven technologies already exist to replace and even improve upon, now incompatible practices.

Huck® structural blind fasteners have been used in many critical joint applications for decades, including widespread usage in aerospace, proving their reliability. The availability of carbon steel, aluminium, and stainless-steel variations make Huck structural blind fasteners a viable option for joining a multitude of materials.

Structural blind fasteners offer similar benefits to those of non-structural blind fasteners, while also providing a distinct advantage: quantifiable and predictable shear and tensile strength. Structural blind fasteners such as, the Huck Magna-Lok® and Huck-Lok® retain their mandrel after installation. This retention of the mandrel is made possible by the interaction of the mandrel and mandrel sleeve during the installation process. The presence of the mandrel accounts for a 60-80 percent increase in load-carrying ability in shear and tensile over conventional non-structural blind fasteners.