What is a Fastener?
In mechanics, the need to join pieces like plates, sections, and bars is very common. Any assembly, however simple it may be, requires the union of parts together, but the mechanical parts to be joined require the proper elements of _________ that are named fasteners.

Most commonly, the fasteners used in mechanics are: rivets, pins, bolts, screws, nuts, washers, and braces.

Mobile and permanent fasteners

The union of parts made by the fasteners can be of two types: mobile or permanent.

In the mobile type of union, the fasteners can be placed or removed from the set without causing any damage to parts that were attached. This is the case, for example, unions made with bolts, nuts and washers.

The type of permanent union, the fasteners, when installed, can not be removed without becoming unusable. This is the case, for example, for unions made with rivets and welds.

Kinds of fasteners

•A screw is a piece consisting of a cylindrical body and a screw head, which can take many forms;
•The nut is shaped like a prism or cylinder and presents a threaded hole. Through this hole, the nut is screwed to the screw;
•The rivet is formed by a cylindrical body and a head. It is manufactured in steel, aluminum, copper or brass. It is used for permanent fixed-tion of two or more pieces;
•Pins join articulated parts. In this type of union, one of the pieces can move by rotation;
•The peg connect parts that are not interconnected;
•The cotter is a rod or wire in a shape similar to that of a half-cylinder, folded so as to make a circular head and has two uneven legs. Place the counter-pin or cotter pins in a hole at the end of a pin or screw and nut castle. Cotter's legs are turned backwards and thus prevent the output of the pin or nut during vibrations of the clamped parts;
•The washer is a metal disk with a hole in the center and the body of the screw goes through the hole;
•The snap ring is used to prevent displacement of axes. It also serves to position or limit the movement of a piece that slides over a shaft. Fastener Chart Differentiation between bolt and screw
T-HEAD BOLTS
BENT BOLTS
RODS & STUDS
NUTS
WASHERS
SCREWS
OTHER
Nail manufacture
Nail making automatic machines (KOVOPOL) We mainly use a fastener for a non-permanent joint. What do we mean by a non-permanent joint? A joint that can be removed or dismantled without the destruction or damage of the joining components can be termed as a non-permanent joint. A welding joint or riveted joint can be termed as a permanent joint, which if required to be removed tends to damage or destruct both the joining components as well as the joint itself.

This is how a fastener terminology looks like.

The basis of a fastener is basically a screw thread. - The male part is basically the screw with an external thread and the female part is a hole with an internal thread. The female part can also be a nut. Here are some ways by which a fastened joint can be created.

- Based on the application area of the fastener, the head portion of the fastener is available in various shapes and sizes as shown below.

Here is a list of materials used for manufacturing of Fasteners:

- Carbon steel: This is the most commonly used material for fasteners.
- Alloy Steel
- Stainless Steel
- Inconel Stainless steel
- Titanium: This is mostly used in aircraft application fasteners.
- Aluminium: This is used in areas of very light loads and application requiring reduction in weight.

Apart from using the above materials as fasteners, certain types of coatings are also provided on the fasteners in order to improve their performance characteristics. The main purpose of coating is to improve the corrosion resistance characteristics of the fasteners. The various types of coatings available for the fasteners are

- Cadmium Plating: used mainly for aerospace applications

- Zinc Plating

- Phosphate Plating

- Chromium plating

- Silver Plating

- Black Oxidizing

- Nickel plating