Strict standards for aerospace fastener inspections
The design, manufacturing and inspection of aerospace fasteners is governed by strict standards. An aircraft can contain over a million fasteners, and just one failure could result in catastrophic consequences. Unlike precision screws, where threads are cut that can weaken the material, fasteners are produced by thread rolling on specialised high-grade materials such as titanium, steel alloys and super alloys.
There are many stages of inspection of fasteners, these include Non-Destructive Testing techniques (NDT) to identify flaws including Magnetic Particle Testing (MT), Liquid Penetrant Testing (PT), and Eddy Current Testing (ECT). There is also batch destructive testing methods such as Tensile Testing from the Starrett range of force testing systems.
Defect detection in precision fasteners
Dimensional and defect identification is also critical, and due to the high volume of aerospace fasteners that are manufactured, precision measurements need to be automated with batches being segregated for detailed inspection.
Optimax offer a range of measurement products for both automated in process fastener inspection and detailed fastener inspection. For rapid in line defect inspection, that could be considered as a Triage Analogy, we recommend the Kitov AI Automated AI system or the Inspekto S70 AI-guided visual inspection system.
For detailed thread or profile form we recommend the Starrett HDV300/400 shadowgraph or the Bruker Alicona µCMM 5 axis optical CMM that provides full 3D non-contact inspection.
Starrett HE400 bench-top profile projector integrated with Optivu Synergy software
We recommend the Starrett HE400 bench-top profile projector integrated with Optivu Synergy software. The Synergy software ensures accurate measurement data recording and has automated the calculation of geometric tolerances. Asked why they decided to buy the Starrett HE400 from Optimax, their reply was unequivocal: ‘They had, in my opinion, the most advanced profile projector on the market.’
