2012 William M. Murray Lecture: Some Curious Unresolved Problems, Speculations, and Advances in Mechanical Fastening

Mechanical joining is one of the oldest, most important, and most neglected aspects of engineering design of machines and structures of all types and sizes. Approximately 250 U.S. companies manufacture fasteners worth over $8 billion per year. There are 18,000 fasteners in a common fighter jet airframe, and fasteners account for roughly one-third the cost of a typical airplane. Yet, most failures of structures, including aircraft, originate at fasteners, suggesting that improved understanding of fastener mechanics, better design criteria, and informed applications of fundamental knowledge are required. This issue is exacerbated by increased demands on systems, particularly in the transportation and military sectors, and by the growing use of composites, for which current fastening practice seems to be underdeveloped owing to the complexities of material structure and response. This lecture first traces a brief history of mechanical joining, its importance, and the problems faced by engineers in designing for fastening. Research and development of fasteners through analysis and experiment are complicated by the large array of variables involved, and investigators must have at hand an extensive array of experimental and analytical techniques as well as an appreciation of the practicalities of fastening. Verification and validation of findings are crucial, and extrapolation is fraught with pitfalls. Described subsequently are some examples of experimental results that generate speculation and that might provide points of entry for investigators who are willing to take on difficult challenges where progress would be valuable but is not easily realized. These cases include, among others, odd and perhaps dangerous behaviors resulting from coldworking holes in engines and structures, impact stresses caused by joint slippage in composites, the use of inserts to control stress concentrations, difficulties in applying sufficient clamping force in composites, merits of hole shaping, and unusual configurations of conical washers. Finally, some ideas for hybrid joining and for systems that allow quick field assembly/disassembly are briefly described.