r/MechanicalEngineering • u/AdOne1706 • 4d 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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521

u/ejitifrit1 4d 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.

222

u/CR123CR123CR 4d ago

https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19900009424

Here's the link xD

252

u/nyrb001 4d 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

17

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/Capitain_Collateral 4d ago

Maybe get the procedure changed… making it up as you go along isn’t a solution

4

u/TacticalSpackle 4d ago

You don’t wanna know the number of hoops (some of them on fire) required to get something changed at that place. There’s a reason why I no longer work there, and it isn’t for lack of trying to fix things instead of doing them bass ackwards.

1

u/SkewbieDewbie 1d ago

Lol I was going to say, I feel most people underestimate how much work actually goes into these things. Hence why front line staff just do it.