rivet nuts - Sherex Fastening Solutions

Tag Archive: rivet nuts

Hex Body Rivet Nuts — Best In Class
August 11, 2021 1:26 pm 1 Comment
When most people think of rivet nuts, they think of little, round body fasteners that are easy to install and have a wide variety of uses.

In reality, we should begin to think of them in hexagonal form. Hex body rivet nuts are amongst the strongest, best-performing rivet nuts on the market today.

Hex body rivet nuts come in the same material as round body (aluminum, steel, stainless steel, etc.), they can have a large flange or small flange, and, like their round-body counterparts, can possess special features such as a mechanical lock to keep joints secure in high-vibration environments, or a watertight gasket to keep dirt, water, dust, or other potential corrosives from degrading the joint over time.

Most importantly, hex body rivet nuts out perform their round body brothers in just about every performance metric available. Spin-out, torque out, push out and pull out. Look at the graphic below to see the overwhelming spin-out performance boost offered when switching to a half-hex or full-hex rivet nut body style.The hex body rivet nut is almost 10 times stronger than a typical, knurled round body rivet nut when installed in the same material. Due to their larger cross-sectional areas, full-hex rivet nut body styles also have increased thread performance as well as enhanced pull-out/push-out resistances when compared to their round-body and half-hex counterparts.

Testing hex body rivet nuts in 1/4-inch thick steel for an agriculture equipment manufacturer

Although hex body rivet nuts can be installed in any material, steel or harder materials will provide the best mechanical properties for improved performance. Just keep in mind the potential for galvanic corrosion when choosing certain materials for your rivet nut versus the base material it’s installing in.

The only caveat with hex-body style rivet nuts? You need a hex hole to install them with. For many manufacturers, making hex holes quickly and reliably (or, sometimes, even at all) can be a complicated task and the main barrier of entry, but it’s a process that in the long run will make that manufacturer’s products perform better when using rivet nuts. Many manufacturers are making the switch, knowing the performance will last.

Half-hex body rivet nuts are available as well, but they too need to be installed in hex holes. The prevailing advice is to go with full hex due to the previously-mentioned structural benefits provided by the larger cross sectional area. However, half-hex rivet nuts maintain many of the enhanced spin-out benefits at a lighter weight and at a lower cost.

Sherex’s FHL, FHK Series and large style LRGH Series rivet nuts are becoming more and more popular and used by many manufactures in automotive, heavy truck, and construction and agriculture equipment industries.

It’s really quite simple, if you can produce a hex hole, you should be using a hex body rivet nut. For more information about hex body rivet nuts and using them in your applications, contact us!
Large Size, High Strength Rivet Nuts
July 19, 2021 11:19 am Leave a Comment
Rivet nuts have a wide variety of uses. They are used to assemble furniture, automobiles, refrigerators, exercise equipment and everything in between.

But what about huge pieces of equipment, like large construction and agriculture equipment? Could a little rivet nut handle the rigors of heavy vibration and rigorous use that construction workers and farmers demand out of their large investments? Short answer is yes. The rivet nuts that are used in those pieces of equipment are just bigger and stronger.

Lots of balers, tractors, dump trucks, and other enormous earth movers use large size, high strength rivet nuts in their assemblies. These rivet nuts provide the strength needed to handle the rigors of these giant machines. In our testing, Sherex’s 5/8-11 LRGH Full Hex Rivet Nuts had a pull out strength over 30,000 pounds of force, spin out was greater than 157 ft-lb and torque out greater than 250 ft-lb. To give an example of how strong the torque out is, a Grade 5 bolt recommended assembly torque is 120 ft-lb.

LRGH Series — This Large Size, Full Hex Rivet Nut is amongst the strongest rivet nut available.

Large size rivet nuts come in thread sizes as large as 3/4-inch and M16 and can come in both round body style and hex style. The large size, hex body style rivet nut is amongst the best performing rivet nut on the market today, as the hex body provide superior spin-out performance to any round body rivet nut.

To install these large size, high strength rivet nuts, you need a large size, high strength tool. Sherex’s FLEX-18 delivers up to 18,000 pounds of force to install these rivet nuts on the assembly line.

3D Models of Large Size, High Strength Rivet Nuts Available!

3D Models of Sherex’s Large Size, High Strength rivet nuts are now available for download on Sherex.com and Traceparts.com. For those interested applying large size rivet nuts to your project, please contact us to talk to our engineers.
3D Rivet Nut Models on Sherex.com!
May 25, 2021 11:45 am Leave a Comment
You can now download installed versions of our rivet nuts right on Sherex.com.

Sherex Fastening Solutions has over 1,500 3D models of its rivet nuts available for download, including Optisert, and full hexagonal rivet nut lines, FHL and FHK Series. These 3D Models add to the 3D Models of our TEC Series Washers.

With an easy to use sort function, find the correct rivet nut based on thread size and material thickness, click on the 3D icon in the table, then download your 3D rivet nut in just seconds.

The 3D widget allows users to use the mouse to drag, turn the model, and zoom in and out using the scroll wheel.

There are over 50 different file type prints are available for download, including including SOLIDWORKS, AutoCAD, and PDFs, with each 3D model. Design engineers are encouraged to download our installed models for better design capabilities in their projects.

This project with ThomasNet and Traceparts integrates the 3D models of installed versions of rivet nuts that are available on TraceParts onto Sherex’s website for a better user experience for those looking for quality rivet nuts.

Find the right style and size of your rivet nut faster. Check it out!
Installing Rivet Nuts Into Curved Surfaces
May 21, 2021 4:51 pm Leave a Comment
By Frank Genovese
Sherex Applications Engineer

For installing rivet nuts into flat materials, the solution is usually rather simple when it comes to geometry. It usually just comes down to making sure there’s sufficient clearance for installation and the right hole size to properly fit the rivet nut. Since the material is flat, the only thing to worry about is ensuring the rivet nut is suitable for use with the thickness of that material.

With curved materials, the options may be narrowed down, and a solution may become more complex.

Installing Rivet Nuts in Curved Surfaces

The options depend specifically on the curvature of the material. Since the entire circumference of a rivet nut collapses onto the material, the geometry of the rivet nut’s crimping bubble will possess the same curvature as the material it’s mating to.

If the base thickness is in the middle of a rivet nut’s grip range, the curvature may not have a significant effect, as the grip range would cover all of the effective thicknesses that rivet nut is crimping onto. However, if a rivet nut is installing into a base thickness toward the upper edge of its grip range, it may have trouble properly installing if the curvature is at all substantial. To account for this, there are two main options.

Material thickness plays a big role in determining whether a rivet nut can be installed in a curved surface

The first option, sometimes preferable for thicker curved material, would be a swaging-style rivet nut. These rivet nuts expand into the installation pane rather than crimp onto it, and thus only have to meet a minimum thickness requirement. Swaging styles are recommended for high (or variable) thickness applications where high joint strength is not an option.

For improved spin-out, pull-out, and torque-out performance, pre-bulbed and slotted rivet nut styles are the recommended option for variable thicknesses. These rivet nuts are typically suitable for large thicknesses, but also a wide range of them. This is because the slots of the rivet nut fold over to collapse onto the material, rather than a significantly smaller counterbore region found in other body styles.

Typical round body rivet nut in curved material

If installing tin to curved surfaces and have questions, feel free to reach out to Sherex’s engineering team with application details and performance requirements. Whether for standard round or hex body rivet nuts, swaging, slotted, or pre-bulbed, Sherex will help guide to users to a recommendation we have the tools to determine the best solution for you.
What are Rivet Nut Studs?
April 15, 2021 3:28 pm Leave a Comment
After reading Why Rivet Nuts?, you may come away with, well that’s good, but what’s a rivet nut stud?

Rivet nut studs are simply rivet nuts with an already outward protruding stud installed in the rivet nut. Instead of threading the bolt into the rivet nut, you thread your attachment on to the bolt and you would attach a nut to tighten down the attachment.

Sherex Rivet Nut Studs

They work the same way as a blind rivet nut, are installed in a similar way, and already have the stud installed. This saves installers the step of putting in the through bolt. Also, when putting an assembly together, it can be beneficial to have something that gets hung on the stud before getting tightened down. This gives the operator something to take the weight off the component before installing the nut over the stud.

Like most blind rivet nuts, rivet nut studs are great replacements for weld nuts when you need a blindly installed, outward-protruding stud for your joint. They are also only needed to be installed in one side of the work piece, where access to the backside is not possible.

Rivet nut studs can come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Round body, hex body, wedge head, knurls – anything a typical rivet nut can be made into and rivet nut stud can. Rivet nut studs are very customizable. Another thing to consider is the stud. How much thread or stud length will you need for the application? Rivet nut studs can be made to a specific length for the application.

The performance of rivet nut studs vs. a typical rivet nut is very similar, although harder material like steel might yield better performance results than softer material. In general, the performance of spin-out or pull-through of a rivet nut stud compared to a typical rivet nut is negligible if all things are equal.

Rivet Nut Stud Application Use

There are a number of different applications a rivet nut could be used for:
- Wire harnessing on a Truck Frame
- Any applications where a rivet nut stud will be used as a hanging point on a centering pin
- Locating or guide pin
- Can replace any weld nut application
- Automotive applications, like spoiler installations, installed into castings, roof racks
- Agriculture applications
- Heavy Truck applications
Rivet Nut Stud Application on Automotive Casting

Rivet nut studs are typically more expensive than a rivet nuts, but remember, the cost of the stud or bolt is also considered into the higher price. When you factor a rivet nut plus a bolt/stud, it’s roughly the same amount per part ($rivet nut stud = $rivet nut + $stud/bolt). Another thing to consider is the potential in time saving, or even ease of assembly for assemblers and installers. Rivet nut studs could very well be a more productive fastener depending on the application, saving money by being able to assemble more products faster.

Rivet nut studs are a great option and should be considered any time you have an application that needs a rivet nut and weigh out the options if it makes sense to use one. If you’d like to speak to one of Sherex’s application engineers to see if an application is worthy of a rivet nut stud, contact us!
Rivet Nut Performance Testing
February 19, 2021 5:10 pm Leave a Comment
There are dozens of different styles of rivet nuts manufacturers can choose from when deciding on a fastening solution to help improve their assembly. While the material, coating, size, body style are all important, how the rivet nut performs under strenuous conditions is often times what matters the most.

Performance testing of rivet nuts is extremely important. It helps validate how the rivet nut will perform under an array of conditions to give manufactures and assemblers assurance that under that same kind of stress in their own design application, their joint will be able to hold up to any expected loading condition.

Here are some of the ways Sherex conducts rivet nut performance testing.

Pull-Out Testing

Pull-out failure occurs when threads are pulled from the rivet nut (ultimate thread strength), or when the base material is distorted and the rivet nut (either partially or entirely) pulls through the base material. Sometimes this happens with the hole size is too big for the rivet nut or when the force applied to the joint is higher than anticipated, causing the rivet nut to pull right through the hole.

Using a tensile machine to pull the rivet nut through the hole

This is tested by assembling our joint into a tensile machine. Tensile load on the joint is increased until the integrity of the crimp fails, whether it be due to material deformation or due to severing of the crimping bubble from the flange of the rivet nut.

Spin-Out Testing

Spin-out is the amount of torque required to make a rivet nut spin in the hole it was installed in. This happens when the bolt cross-threads into the rivet nut, causing it to spin. It can also occur when excessive corrosion causes the bolt to bind in the nut.

What it will take for the rivet nut to spin in the hole?

This is tested by assembling a test bolt into the shank end of the rivet nut. Torque is increased until the integrity of the crimp fails and the rivet nut starts to spin in the material. Failure torque recorded is the maximum torque reached before the rivet nut starts to spin.

Torque-Out Testing

This is the torque required to strip threads out of the rivet nut. This method of testing sandwiches the head of the rivet nut between the non-rotational mating part and parent or base panel.

Spin-out is not a factor because tightening the bolt on the non-rotating part holds the rivet nut in place and prevents it from spinning.

Torque the bolt on the flange side of the rivet nut until the bolt, rivet nut, or base material is compromised

This is tested by assembling a test bolt into the flange side of the rivet nut, with the flange supported entirely by a hardened test plate. Torque is increased until the integrity of the joint fails, whether it be due to the bolt snapping inside the rivet nut or due to the threads of the rivet nut stripping. Failure torque recorded is the maximum torque reached before thread failure occurs.

Assembly Torque / Clamp Load

Sherex gives recommendations for the assembly torque to achieve recommended clamp load in our catalog to give the recommended torque for assembling a rivet nut joint using any Sherex-manufactured rivet nut. Testing is for this is important, because different joint configurations will produce different clamp load levels.

Assembly torque is calculated as a ratio of proof load, which designates thread strength per SAE J995 for unified (UNC/UNF) internal thread sizes and ISO 898-2 for metric sizes. This is our recommendation for Sherex-manufactured parts meant to meet Grade 5/Class 8 thread strength specifications. All torques designated represent recommendations for assembly from the flange side with the flange entirely supported.

All failure loads, torques, and assembly recommendations are heavily application-dependent, and any recommendations found in the catalog or results from different applications should only be used as a reference.

For any questions on testing or any parts that require a higher grade or property class designation, please contact us!
Sherex Akron Helps COVID-19 Vaccination Effort with Quick Turnaround
January 15, 2021 5:17 pm Leave a Comment

Recently, a customer of ours needed a special part in a hurry – and for good reason.

This closed end rivet nut was going to be used in a blood transfusion centrifuge that is used in the production of the COVID-19 vaccination efforts. If that wasn’t enough to expedite this order, the team in need of this part had a production line down.

Time and efficiency were critical.

The first email was received at Sherex Akron on a Monday at 12:03 p.m. explaining the dire situation. The small batch of products was made and shipped at 3:10 p.m. on Tuesday, ready to be used on the production line for Wednesday, with plenty of more on the way in the coming days and weeks to keep production running smoothly.

This was a fast, day and a half turnaround by the Sherex Akron team knowing how important this part is to hundreds of thousands of people who are suffering from this terrible pandemic.

“Thank you for making this an important situation within your company,” the customer said in an email. “Please extend my thanks to all the people involved with getting some parts ready to ship today.”

When Sherex said back in June that we were prioritizing projects directly impacting the mitigation and vaccination efforts of COVID-19 we weren’t kidding. This is just another example of the speed, competency and care, along with quality parts, the Sherex team delivered for our customer that we know will make a giant impact.
Sherex Fastening Solutions Year in Review
December 17, 2020 6:43 pm Leave a Comment
From all of us at Sherex Fastening Solutions, we want to wish you and your families a very happy and healthy holiday season.

This year was challenging for Sherex, but we were able to accomplish so much. Let’s take a look back on some of some of the accomplishments that took place over the past year.

Coronavirus and its Impact

This year was challenging for Sherex and many of our customers. Keeping our employees safe is always our No. 1 goal, and this year it took on a new meaning. With information on the coronavirus changing what seemed like every day, we were able to take the lead from our manufacturing facility in Taiwan that implemented a thorough mitigation strategy.

With a virus safety plan in place to keep employees safe, we prioritized our projects into helping American businesses who are making applications to help curb the spread or protect people from the virus and we still are. Our Akron Ohio manufacturing facility was able to deliver quality products, on time, to these important customers.

Launching the Hand Tool Calibration Unit


Our new Sherex Hand Tool Calibration Unit is a “must have” for any engineer and installer. The Sherex Hand Tool Calibration Unit shows the installed force of both spin-spin and spin-pull tools in real time. Our customers are seeing great results. This new product allows installers and operators to easily check the pulling force of their rivet nut tools to improve installation, while reducing installation times, and waste.

3D Model TEC Series available on the site

Have you checked out our 3D models of our TEC Series wedge locking washers? Design engineers are encouraged to use these in their drawings to see how an exact fit would look like. There are over 50 different design programs available to download from. Check it out! Soon to come, 3D models of our rivet nuts!

New Products Coming

In 2021, we are on pace to launch two new products to add to our growing offering. Both of these new products will help improve customers’ installation process and improve their existing products. Stay tuned!

Strong second half of the year and into 2021

As manufacturing facilities began to reopen, business has picked up. Our last half of the year has seen us win a lot of projects as companies are seeing how our fastener innovations and commitment to find engineered solutions for unique fastening problems are separating Sherex from the competitors.

Have a great holiday and wonderful 2021!
Made in America Rivet Nuts
July 22, 2020 3:44 pm Leave a Comment
Did you know Sherex Fastening Solutions is a Made in America Fastener Company?

Our manufacturing plant in Akron, Ohio makes millions of American made rivet nuts, compression limiters, and inserts for composites every year. Our parts out of Sherex Akron belong in some of the hottest vehicles on the road today, dozens of commercial and military aircraft, general industrial applications, and department of defense products. In fact, our Made in the USA rivet nuts were relied upon when companies pivoted to make products that helped mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, like hand sanitizer and ventilator stands, along with other critical applications for hospitals.

Some of our most popular rivet nut lines are produced out of Sherex Akron, including our CAT and CFT Series, NAS Series, and custom rivet nuts and fasteners.

The CAT style rivet nuts has a low profile flange and can fit into a variety of different material thickness and material. This rivet nut could be a one fit solution if the material you’re looking to fasten has different thickness.

CAT Series Rivet Nuts

All NAS style rivet nuts are also made from our Sherex Akron location. The United States Department of Defense relies on Sherex NAS/MS rivet nuts for a variety of applications.

Our inserts for composite product line is used for structural attachments in plastic applications and are used extensively in the automotive and heavy truck industries as customer drive light weighting initiatives by switching to composite material for their components. In addition, Sherex adds compression limiters to these applications to ensure the mating component is not damaged due to the compressive force of the fastened joint.

NAS Style Rivet Nuts

Also, most custom rivet nuts are made out of Sherex Akron. With our staff of engineers and manufacturing facility, we’re able to see custom, American made rivet nuts from the design and manufacturing process all the way through quality control.

More upgrades are being made to the facility planned in 2020 to help increase capacity as demand as our Made in America rivet nut products continues to grow. More to come from Sherex Akron!
Watertight Rivet Nuts
January 24, 2020 4:13 pm 2 Comments
In an earlier post we talked about how corrosion should be considered when choosing the type of rivet nut to use in your next project, and what types of sprays can help deter or limit the pace of red rust and white rust from occurring.

Now water will certainly speed up the corrosion process, but that shouldn’t eliminate the use of rivet nuts in wet conditions, or conditions where a rivet nut will spend some of its life submerged in water or fluid.

Our partner Tubtara® has a few different watertight and fluid proof rivet nuts that are designed with seals underneath the flange to keep water and fluids from leaking through the rivet nut. Tubtara’s Watertight HX series feature a O-ring seal mounted underneath the flange, and provides protection against moisture, oil, and dirt under high pressures. Despite the O-ring, it will deliver a metal to metal contact after installation.

Tubtara Watertight HX Rivet Nut. Notice the O-ring seal underneath the flange.

The Watertight (H)DPX Series is a rivet nut that has an applied sealant underneath the head. This non-reactive seal is resistant to many auto oils, antifreeze and other kinds of fluids with a higher viscosity. The seal in the (H)DPX Series can come in a variety of different seal material including NBR, Viton, silicone, epoxy based, acrylate and polyurethane resin.

Non-reactive seal is great for use in high viscosity fluids

Any application where you wouldn’t want water or fluid to leak underneath or through the rivet nut should require a watertight rivet nut. Without using one of the seals, whether it’s an O-ring or sealant, it may not be completely watertight – especially as corrosion begins to develop.

For more information on watertight rivet nuts, or if looking for a solution for fasteners that will perform well under water or fluid, contact us!