Nuts come under the category of fasteners and have a threaded hole. They are used in combination with bolts to fasten different parts together. The nuts and bolts adhere to each other using the friction of various threads present on the nut and compressive action between the two. Nuts have a wide usage in assembling the parts of a machine.
They are used in industries, for different construction purposes and military applications. Nuts are present in a variety of options differing in the sizes, shapes, materials used and the patterns of the threads. The type of bolt used also influences the nuts but the nuts should be selected only if they are suitable for the work to be done.
Different types of nuts include :
COUPLING NUTS
A coupling nut is large in length. It is cylindrical in shaped and is used for joining two male threads specially used in joining rods and pipes. The major use is to increase the length of the installation. These are also known as installation nuts. These are available in materials of stainless steel, brass and carbon steel. These generally have a hex design that makes tightening simple.
FLANGE NUTS
These are quite resembling the flange bolts and they have a round flange that functions as an external washer helping in the distribution of load.
The wide flange at one end helps in proper distribution of pressure. These are used in assembling work. These are generally made of the hardened type of steel and are coated with zinc. Electronic products and automobiles have wide usage of flange nuts.
HEX NUTS
These are hexagonally shaped. They are versatile in nature. These come under the category of most basic types of nuts used for the purpose of fastening.
Typically, such nuts are used in combination with the hex bolts. However, their usage is not only limited to the hex bolts. The body of such nuts helps in making wrenching easy and an adequate amount of torque can be put to the joint. The advantage of such types of nuts is that they can be used with any type of bolts.
LOCK NUTS
Such nuts are present in varied shapes and prevent other nuts from loosening. They have excellent fastening capabilities. They are designed to lose excessive vibration or excessive torque. They are present in different varieties that help in creating friction like the all metal nut and nylon insert nut (have a polymer design).
SQUARE NUTS
Such nuts are characterized by the square shape they have. This shape helps in enhancing the surface area of the fastener and increases the friction thereby preventing loosening.
These are generally used in combination with square shaped bolts. These are used in works such as assembling the furniture and finding an application in roads as well.
SLOTTED NUTS
These nuts are designed so that they form a locking combination with a safety wire. Such nuts have slots made inside them. These are used at places where excessive vibration or motion can loosen the entire mechanism.
Slotted nuts can be used in place of castle nuts and vice versa, the reason being that they have similar dimensions. The depth of the slots to be made depends upon the standards.
WHEEL NUTS
These are broadly used in automobiles, especially in wheel applications. These are also known by the name of lug nuts and are used to secure the wheels on the vehicle.
Damaging a vehicle without wheel nuts could turn out to be potentially dangerous. Thus, they are really important. The nuts should be chosen based upon the type of application and standard sizes should be adhered to. There are many additional types of nuts as well. These include conical nuts, capstan nuts, thumb and wing nuts. You can explore different varieties of nuts and bolts at Bhavya Industries.
