Insulation fasteners are hardware devices used to temporarily fasten objects together, such as pins that weld onto sheet metal duct insulation and self-locking washers and clips for use with insulation blanket mount pins.
Insulation plates and fasteners are necessary for mechanically fastened single-ply membranes in order to maximize system uplift performance. They must be installed through the seams in both membrane and roof deck, respectively.
Mechanical Fasteners
Mechanical fasteners have long been used as an effective means of joining industrial components together. Available in an assortment of shapes, sizes and lengths made from stainless steel, carbon or alloy steel and often coated for corrosion resistance protection, mechanical fasteners remain one of the go-to fastening solutions for connecting components together.
The type of fastener selected for an application depends on its environment and load requirements. Studs are popularly used in industrial process piping systems and come in various materials. One end, known as the tap end, allows screws to screw into threaded holes while the nut end has threaded openings which allows components to connect securely.
Though mechanical fasteners offer many advantages, adhesives are increasingly being preferred as replacement fasteners. Adhesives provide lower costs, increased productivity and reduced labor and fatigue issues; additionally they allow substrate expansion/contraction as needed, act as insulation against cold temperatures and help eliminate energy loss through thermal bridges.
Adhesives
Adhesives (commonly referred to as glue, cement, mucilage or paste) are an integral component of construction applications and an increasingly popular choice. Adhesives today can be made of various chemical substances that undergo different reactions when hardening – reactants are considered non-reactive while reactants undergo certain processes that harden over time.
Reactive adhesives use water-based solutions as the activator to activate their bonding processes and are frequently employed in applications like painting and coating where moisture may be an issue. Examples include polyurethane and epoxy adhesives.
Structural adhesives provide stronger bonds than mechanical fasteners, as well as other advantages like improved stress distribution. When shearing forces are applied to fasteners, shearing stresses will concentrate near each one whereas with adhesive bonds they are distributed over a larger surface area and therefore make your assembly stronger.
Washers
Washers are disc-shaped plates designed to distribute the force exerted by bolts or threaded fasteners, such as screws. Most washers are constructed out of metal; however, special variants can be customized for various applications and products.
Some washers are designed to seal leaks while also acting as vibration dampening devices, while others serve as preload indicators, locking devices or hold fasteners captive. Furthermore, specialty washers exist which offer electrical grounding points, align fasteners or insulate them.
Sometimes it can be challenging to drive screws all the way into an object without some of their tips protruding beyond the surface. Washers provide padding between the head of a screw and material it is driving into, creating a cushion between them both and can also correct hole size or serve as spacers if required. Some washers can even help absorb vibrations since their soft materials like plastic, rubber and urethane absorb vibrations better than metal counterparts.
Pins
Many insulation fastening jobs involve pin welding. Thanks to recently developed solid state capacitor discharge (CD) welding equipment and fastener designs that specifically address this process, much of the guesswork has been eliminated from these types of projects.
Dowel pins are specialty fasteners used to secure parts and components where shear force is an issue, including surfaces with shear forces such as wood floors or asphalt surfaces. Dowel pins come in various sizes and materials that fit various installation methods and surface requirements, providing reliable fastening options.
Install pins, commonly known as hanger pins, can either be stud-weldable or designed to be secured using adhesive bonds for non-welded applications. Install pins can accommodate self-locking washers called speed clips or domes that cover protruding pin ends to protect from accidental exposure on site.
These fasteners are used to secure rigid foam insulation boards such as Bora-Foam in crawl space foundation walls without the need for drilling, providing an effective labor-saving method. Their large washer surface distributes holding pressure evenly, decreasing risk of crushing insulation or damaging nearby metal.