Can you install clinch nuts onto machined parts!

[var10]

I have so far been installing clinch nuts into sheet metal parts. Could be silly, but just curious to know if you can install these nuts onto machined parts of similar thickness and material?

Experiences? problems?

Thanks,

V.

 

[mcgyvr]

I can't see any problems with it..

 

[KENAT]

Sure, like you already hint at so long as the material type and thickness is compatible with the clinch nut whether it's 'sheet metal' or 'machined part' seems pretty much irrelevant. Using this approach to install some kind of floating nut in an otherwise machined part seems an obvious application.

Heck, once you get away from bending, dimpling etc. then the distinction between sheet metal part and machined part is pretty arbitrary anyway. I had a part just recently which was a thin flat plate with a moderately complex outline, bunch of c'bored holes, a chamfered squarish cutout and some tight flatnes specs. I was thinking of it as a machined part, my purchasing sent it to a sheet metal shop.

Posting guidelines faq731-376

http://eng-tips.com/market.cfm?

(probably not aimed specifically at you)
What is Engineering anyway: faq1088-1484​

 

[var10]

Thank you! I appreciate your input. The reason why I thought they could be different is because sheetmetal is rolled and machined parts come in blocks. Hence the grain structures are different in each.

Yes we use floating anchor nuts now on the machined parts, but if you can use clinch nuts instead it saves time during installation as these nuts and rivets are very tiny for most hands and can reduce the number of parts from 3 to 1 in the BOM.

In other words will this be the same?

2mm Aluminium sheet on brake press and 2mm machined Aluminium on a brake press? Maybe I am over thinking, but I am just trying to understand molecular orientation affects processes and why one is easier to bend and other not??

Correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks,

Varoon

 

[TVP]

There should not be a noticeable difference between sheet and plate/rod/billet aluminum, provided that everything has the same composition, temper, etc. Free machining grades of steel and aluminum that contain lead (Pb) are not as ductile, and may experience problems with clinching.

 

[var10]

I looked at the aluminium composition for AL 6061 T651 and it appears that they do not contain lead. Thanks TVP.

 

[var10]

Thanks for your replies! Are there any documents published or anywhere mentioned in wording that says I could use clinch nuts on machined parts?? So that I can go and explain this to my boss and give him examples etc?

One reason or information I gathered shows me that floating clinch nuts are almost 50% cheaper than floating anchor nuts and rivet costs together. But I need to convince him that clinch nuts would be a better option and hence i am making a report. Thus I need some reference material.

Thank you for your help.

 

[MikeHalloran]

>>> Thus I need some reference material. <<<

Call the clinch nut manufacturer. Ask for an application engineer.


Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[btrueblood]

What Mike said. Or visit their website and download/read a few white papers. But Mike's method is faster.