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FAQs

Answers to your technical and commercial questions about bigHead fastening products.

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    Evaluating fastener installation strength

    • Can installation strength test results be used to define safety factors?

      Installation strength results help you understand how a fastener installation behaves, but they should not be the sole basis for safety factors or permissible loads. Safety margins must also consider:

      • Variability in materials and manufacturing
      • Installation process variation
      • Expected loading envelopes
      • Environmental exposure
      • Inspection or maintenance requirements

      Where safety margins are critical, check any relevant design standards or regulatory requirements and apply them when defining loading limits for the complete fastening system.

    • Is the highest test result always the ‘best’ installation?

      Not always. High peak load values can hide issues such as undesirable failure modes, high sensitivity to variability, or behaviour that doesn’t align with real service expectations. Consistency, failure behaviour, and relevance to the application are often more meaningful than maximum values alone.

    • When are coupon-scale installation strength test results ‘good enough’ for design decisions?

      Coupon‑scale results are suitable when the installation configuration, materials, and geometry closely match the intended application. In these cases, they can confidently support configuration selection and early‑stage design refinement.

    • When should I move to small‑element or full‑scale structural testing?

      As designs mature and real‑world load paths become more complex – or where failure consequences are safety‑critical – evaluation should progress to small‑element or full‑scale testing. These methods validate installation performance under representative geometry, load paths, and boundary conditions.

    • Why can’t I compare results between axial, shear, and torsional tests?

      Each test type applies load in a different direction and creates different load paths and failure mechanisms. Because the loading response is fundamentally different in each case, installation strength values from axial, shear, and torsional tests cannot be compared directly.