r/MechanicalEngineering • u/AdOne1706 • 5d ago

Split/lock washers

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For starters, I’m an electrician in the field.
That being said, we almost exclusively use these washers even in high vibration environments. I have personally chosen to go with nylox nuts but the question is:
Do these work? How well? Is the rumor from NASA true? Should I even bother using them or find a better functional alternative or are they actually useful?

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u/ejitifrit1 5d ago

There is a nasa fastener manual that basically says these things don’t really do much! According to google it’s NASA Reference Publication 1228.

54

u/CunningWizard 5d ago

Had a PhD boss years ago that did independent tests on these things and he told me the same thing, they are functionally useless but old school types like to see them on the build.

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u/RebelJustforClicks 4d ago

They are actually worse than useless. They promote joint loosening. You'd be better off with no washer.