Reduce risk and maintain compliance with our specialist risk management services.
We’re proud to be a leading provider of complete life cycle risk management solutions. From ensuring asset safety and legal compliance with our thorough engineering inspections to driving operational efficiency with our specialist non-destructive testing services, (and much more in between), we’re proud of the long-lasting partnerships we have formed with our customers over the last 160 years, based on the value of our solutions.
Fastener Testing
We're here to help you secure a safer future with our testing services
At BES Group, our testing services can involve assessing and analysing the performance and properties of fasteners to guarantee their compliance with precise quality and performance criteria. Our tests also evaluate their dependability and longevity in diverse circumstances.
With our extensive expertise in fastener testing, we are well-prepared to support your testing requirements in the high-quality fastener industry.
Fastener Testing services from BES Group
Are your fasteners strong enough? Find out with our testing solutions
Get in touch today! Get in touch today! Get in touch today!What Our Fastener Testing Involves
Mechanical Testing
- Proof load of bolts and nuts
- Wedge tests for head soundness
- Tensile tests on full-size or machined samples
- Proof/ yield stress, total elongation
- Reduction in area and standard or microhardness testing (surface and core)
- 24-hour hardness testing including heat treatment* on nuts to ASTM A194
- Torque testing*
- Elevated temperature tensile testing on machined fastener feed stock or machined fasteners to ASTM E21 and BS EN SO 6892-2.
*Not UKAS accredited
Speak to a member of our teamMetallurgy
- Decarburisation/carburisation testing
- Microstructural assessment including phase analysis, banding, segregation
- Microhardness to determine phase hardness e.g. martensite, ferrite, bainite etc.
- Longitudinal sectioning and macro etching to delineate forging flow lines at the bolt head-shank interface and reveal structural integrity along the bolt length from head to shank end.
- Fastener surface testing for the presence of hexavalent chromium (Cr6/CrVI) on suspect or designed chromate-treated surfaces.
- Failure investigations, including SEM/EDX analysis and fracture analysis to assess fastener failures
Chemical Analysis
Chemical analysis of fasteners and/or starting material is clearly of fundamental importance – if the start material or semi-finished fastener bears the right chemistry, there is every chance that optimum subsequent downstream processing will result in specification compliance.
Speak to a member of our teamSalt Spray & Finish Testing
Any inorganic coating (e.g. plating, galvanising, sherardising) or organic coating (e.g. painting, plastic coating, Xylan, Dacromet coating) can be salt spray tested to ASTM B117/BS EN SO 9277. We can also offer plating/coating thickness measuring to BS EN SO 1463 and coating mass determination to BS EN 10346 and 10152.
If you need to understand how your fasteners will react to certain environments, we offer the following tests:
- Salt spray testing
- Humidity testing
- Plating/ coating thickness
- Coating mass testing
- Presence of hexavalent chromium (Cr6/CrVI)
Supporting your fastener testing needs through every stage of development
Raw Materials
Understanding the behaviour and characteristics of raw materials is crucial for any production process. If the starting material has the right chemistry and durability, there is a strong chance that downstream processing will result in quality compliance. If the raw material shows early signs of structural or behavioural defects, then production processes can be improved or a more suitable material can be selected before manufacturing fasteners begins.
Batch Products and Samples
We offer batch testing on fastener samples to assess the quality of your manufactured products, to ensure that they are safe and compliant for installation. We also offer metallurgical testing on batch samples to make sure there are no defects or flaws from the production process.
Machined Samples
If you require sample preparation and machining of raw or produced samples, our machine workshop can support with grinding, sawing and polishing your fasteners from a larger bolt into a small test piece ready for mechanical testing and metallurgical investigations.
Full-Sized Finished Bolts
If your fasteners have already been manufactured, coated and plated, and are now ready to enter the market, we can carry out a range of tests on your finished product. This will help to ensure that any coatings, platings and finishing processes are suitable for your product before being installed in real-life conditions.
Raw Materials
Understanding the behaviour and characteristics of raw materials is crucial for any production process. If the starting material has the right chemistry and durability, there is a strong chance that downstream processing will result in quality compliance. If the raw material shows early signs of structural or behavioural defects, then production processes can be improved or a more suitable material can be selected before manufacturing fasteners begins.
Batch Products and Samples
We offer batch testing on fastener samples to assess the quality of your manufactured products, to ensure that they are safe and compliant for installation. We also offer metallurgical testing on batch samples to make sure there are no defects or flaws from the production process.
Machined Samples
If you require sample preparation and machining of raw or produced samples, our machine workshop can support with grinding, sawing and polishing your fasteners from a larger bolt into a small test piece ready for mechanical testing and metallurgical investigations.
Full-Sized Finished Bolts
If your fasteners have already been manufactured, coated and plated, and are now ready to enter the market, we can carry out a range of tests on your finished product. This will help to ensure that any coatings, platings and finishing processes are suitable for your product before being installed in real-life conditions.
Fastener Testing FAQs
What is a fastener?
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Fasteners play a crucial role in every structure as they provide the necessary strength and durability to hold various materials together. Nuts, bolts, screws, and studs are commonly used as fasteners.
What is fastener testing?
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Fastener testing involves assessing and evaluating the mechanical and material properties of fasteners, which are devices used to join or affix two or more components together.
Fasteners can include bolts, screws, nuts, rivets, and other types of connectors.
The goal of fastener testing is to ensure that these components meet specific quality and performance standards, particularly in industries where safety and reliability are critical, such as automotive, aerospace, construction, and manufacturing.
Why do fasteners need be tested?
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It is crucial to conduct independent testing on a fastener to determine if the product and its materials are suitable for their intended purpose. This allows manufacturers, suppliers, and testing laboratories to assess whether the product has been manufactured correctly, with the appropriate materials and treatments to withstand the required conditions.
Our laboratory specialises in testing the maximum strain that a fastener can endure before breaking or bending.
We also perform macro and micro examinations to closely examine the composition of materials.
In the event that a fastener fails during use, a sample can be sent to our laboratory for testing to prevent future failures.
What happens if a fastener fails?
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It is crucial to ensure that fasteners are comprised of the correct materials, suitable for their intended use. If a fastener fails to perform successfully whilst in use, it can lead to detrimental consequences for structures, and the health and safety of people around them.
Fasteners make up a large majority of overall structural integrity and can cause the whole structure to fail if they do not operate correctly. Failed fasteners have previously been the cause behind plane crashes, industrial accidents, and ship disasters, such as oil spills and sinking accidents. This can cause negative legal implications for the companies involved in the fastener’s supply chain, so testing is crucial to prevent these issues from occurring.
How can fasteners be tested?
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Fasteners can be tested in a variety of different ways. At Rotech laboratories, we are able to test and verify fasteners through services such as corrosion, mechanical testing, metallurgical testing, and chemical analysis, for alignment with a variety of UKAS specifications and standards.
What types of fasteners do you test?
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We test all kinds of fasteners, from nuts, bolts, rivets, screws and more.
One of our areas of expertise is testing full sized fasteners (unmachined fasteners), as well as tests on machined fasteners ready for market.
We also offer testing on feedstock material in bar form, which is used in to manufacture fasteners, whether by cold heading, heat treatment, forging, thread rolling and many other processes.
What happens once a fastener has been tested?
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Fastener test results are always provided to the customer, including fastener suppliers, manufacturers and external third parties involved in compliancy. It is extremely important for the customer to understand why the composition of a fastener may need alterations, or why as a consequence it has failed. This allows the supply chain to alter processes, to prevent failures from occurring, saving money, time, and the health and safety of end-users.
Why should fastener testing be outsourced?
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Outsourcing fastener samples and materials to an independent testing laboratory such as ourselves, is a crucial step in ensuring products and materials are safe for use. If a fastener manufacturer or supplier does not have the capacity and expertise for testing, it is a cost-effective, and safe way for ensuring relevant compliancy.
Sectors we work with
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