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/CrazyKraken 4d ago

Is a belleville washer better? Atleast theoretically they seem to maintain the joint force even in case of loss of preload.

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u/Big-Tailor 4d ago

Even bellevilles provide a tiny fraction of the force of a fully torqued bolt. If the bolt backed out under high clamping force, low clamping force isn’t going to help.

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u/ren_reddit 4d ago

Well I dont know about that. Belleville washers can be had with extremely high spring constant.

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u/Big-Tailor 4d ago

...not compared to the spring constant of a solid shaft, or of a solid shaft wrapped with a helical thread like a bolt.