Galling Prevention and Run-In Torque Reduction

Situation:
An aircraft structures manufacturing company was encountering galling when installing titanium bolts (type NAS1581) to threaded stainless steel nut-plates (type MS21060L6). The fastener system is used to attach a large exterior communications structure to the airframe.
The end customer had set a specification of 5 installation/removal cycles with no galling for maintenance purposes. While the manufacturer could achieve this at times during pre-production testing, the results were not reliable and required careful manual installation.

Testing:
DICRONITE® dry lubrication was coated on bolts and nut-plates for testing of manual and automated installation. Run-in torque was measured and fasteners were inspected for damage following test trials.

Results:
Manual Installation:
As shown, the run-in torque was low and decreased with every installation/removal cycle. No evidence of galling was noted and the coating was found to be in good condition throughout the test.

#Manufacturing #Galling #TorqueReduction #Military #Defense #DefenseIndustry #DepartmentOfDefense #Engineering #Safety #Construction #ChemicalEngineering #QualityInspection #Passivation