When it comes to finding a quality distributor for aircraft hardware, you have a lot of variables to consider. You want to ensure they have the parts you need, competitive pricing, and excellent customer service. Military standards are incredibly rigorous, so you want to ensure the fasteners you buy have passed those tests.
Warranty
Top fastener distributors will offer a warranty on parts sourced from a supplier that uses an ISO-certified quality management system (TS 16949/ISO 9001). The distributor may also have its in-house warranty department. The company can oversee all claims and returns for core components in-house, resulting in faster response times for claims assistance. Aircraft hardware fasteners are designed to withstand extreme conditions, from high temperatures and pressures to harsh fluids and excessive loads. They must be able to transfer these loads with minimal damage and without failing. Engineers consider load, access, corrosion, tooling requirements, and weight when selecting fasteners for their aircraft projects. A good distributor can also kit or assemble products, saving OEMs time and money on assembly line labor. This allows them to serve as a one-stop shop for their customers. Kitting can include a variety of head design drives, drive types, thread lengths, points, end caps, and other configurations. Some kits are assembled with specialized equipment, while others are manually assembled and triple-checked for accuracy.
Quality Control
QC procedures ensure that fasteners meet standards and specifications. They help prevent defects and eliminate costly recalls and rework. They also improve operational efficiency and brand reputation. In addition to visual inspections, quality specialists can use a microscope to analyze a fastener’s finish and other features and identify any problems. They can perform tensile testing, determining how much force is required to bend or snap the fastener. They can also test the hardness of rubber parts with a durometer and the flexure or compression resistance of metallic components. If a manufacturer uses the wrong type of material, it can be spotted with positive material identification (PMI) testing, which analyzes a fastener’s total chemical composition and grade. For example, using stainless steel in a hydraulic system instead of the specified Inconel X-750 could lead to catastrophic failure. This is why it’s so important to have quality control processes in place. This will avoid expensive mistakes and keep you on schedule.
Certifications
The aerospace fasteners industry is proliferating, driven by a continued increase in airline passenger traffic worldwide. These specialty fasteners, which assemble aircraft structures such as the fuselage, wings, empennage, nose, and towers, must be highly robust to survive tremendous gravity pressures. They also must pass stringent standard certification. These fasteners must be manufactured from materials with high resistance to heat and corrosion. They are often heat-treated or coated to improve durability. In addition, they must meet specific mechanical specifications, such as ANSI, ABMA, and NFPA. Specified aerospace fasteners must be provided with a material test report, a chemical and physical report that records information about the fastener, including the raw material and fastener manufacturer. The report also records the fastener lot number and the results of the tests and inspections required by the procurement specification. All flight hardware and critical GSE bolts and nuts must be identified on the purchase request as either a safe life/single point failure or a fail-safe/redundant load path.
Customer Service
Aircraft and aerospace manufacturers must be highly diligent with every step of production because even minor inefficiencies or defects can quickly become significant safety concerns. This is why the best aerospace hardware companies are constantly developing new and innovative designs to produce superior aviation fasteners that are both strong and lightweight. Aluminum is the most commonly used metal for aircraft fasteners because of its high tensile strength and resistance to fatigue. However, it can also be prone to corrosion and other issues that require additional coatings or surface treatment. This is why some companies have developed new aluminum alloys resistant to these issues while providing the tensile strength and durability required by aircraft and aerospace manufacturers. They also offer custom machining services to meet contract-specific requirements for airlines, MRO, and machine shops. Their product lines include standard hardware, fluid fittings, and precision components.