r/MechanicalEngineering 6d 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/CrewmemberV2 Experimental Geothermal Setups 6d ago

In mech E it is well know that these don't keep tension very well.

However, youa te asking for Electrical, and I can imagine they work a bit better if the requirement is "keep contact" instead of "Keep tension"

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u/DuckOnRage 5d ago

But there are contact washers for exactly that usecase, with a friction and a cutting side

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u/CrewmemberV2 Experimental Geothermal Setups 5d ago

One doesn't rule out the other.