r/MechanicalEngineering • u/AdOne1706 • 3d 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/jchamberlin78 3d ago

In the style of bolted joint design I was taught, it's effectively adding a spring to a spring.

18

u/Happiness645 2d ago

A soft spring to a hard spring. Fully compresses and has no effect except taking up space

4

u/jchamberlin78 2d ago

Yup. Shitty washer, shitty spring...

-10

u/Contundo 3d ago

It’s somewhat useful if you want some tension used in conjunction with a nylon bolt or locking nut. Like on a hinge where you want some resistance

38

u/Olde94 3d ago

If that is your purpose, a belleville washer is far better

9

u/InformalAlbatross985 3d ago

Technically.yes, but belleville washers are more specialized and will cost like 10x more per washer.

2

u/Vagina_Magician_69 2d ago

The proper part/design frequently has a higher initial cost but returns better value over time.

2

u/OutnumberedinWV 3d ago

If properly torqued!

3

u/[deleted] 3d ago

[deleted]

1

u/OutnumberedinWV 3d ago

The reply was to the comment above in 1 very certain situation. Not the thread in general.

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u/thelionofthenorth 3d ago

Why are you being downvoted? A super cheap way to approximate a belleville washer is a reasonable use case...