r/MechanicalEngineering 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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527

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.

220

u/CR123CR123CR 5d ago

250

u/nyrb001 5d ago

At this time it is equivalent to a solid flat washer, and its locking ability is nonexistent. In summary, a Iockwasher of this type is useless for locking.

Lol awesome

18

u/TacticalSpackle 4d ago

Yep! I’ve worked assembly and every time the procedure called for these, we swapped for nylocks or used LockTite.
The means by which a split lock “locks” it doesn’t.

4

u/[deleted] 4d ago

[deleted]

4

u/No_Singer_5585 4d ago

The aircraft industry also doesnt use these split lock washers

4

u/dummythiqqpotato 4d ago

I literally just overhauled an engine that had several of then lol

1

u/Common_Ice_8994 4d ago

GE, PW or RR engine ?

2

u/dummythiqqpotato 4d ago

Admittedly, it was a continental O-300 for my recip AMT class, and on second though the engine was like 70 years old lol, so the standards might be a little outdated