Friday, July 8, 2011

The Basics of an Expansion Bolt


Expanding bolts are designed to expand after it has been installed or inserted into its destination. They are made from a bolt and a nut inside a sleeve usually made of lead. They are typically used to install items into concrete, masonry, rock, brick and other tough materials where normal bolt will not work. They are actually not that complicated. The sleeve swells when the bolt is tightened into place. The sleeve protects both the bolt inside it as well as the material it is being placed into.

One can find several different types of expanding bolts, every one of them having a different purpose. Anti-tamper expansion bolts are made from steel and need a specific tool to install and remove from any material. Security expansion bolts are designed for installing bars and grills and lifetime expansion bolts are designed to never be removed, thus the name. They usually have a steel cone that is fitted over the bolt head so that it can not be removed.

The materials expanding bolts are made from are extremely important, as some of these bolts will often be used as anchors and thus need to be extremely sturdy and strong. They are generally made from strong steel that contains zinc and cadmium plating. They also have a coating that will prevent corrosion, making them suitable to use in areas exposed to bad weather and water.

Expanding bolts are commonly used in the construction industry where there is a lot of movement and vibration, like stadiums and train tracks. They are also commonly used on rock climbing routes for climbers to use and are placed in cracks and spaces in the rocks and used as anchors.

Installing an expanding bolt is actually not a difficult process at all. Firstly, a hole needs to be drilled and then cleaned so that no dust is left over, as this may jeopardize the strength of the bolt. The bolt is then hammered into the hole and the nut is then tightened. Too much tension on the bolt can cause it to break, so you need to make sure that you do not over-tighten the nut.

Expansion bolts have their own purpose and can only be used for that specific purpose, and it is the same with any other type of bolt. Hex bolts are one of the most common types of bolts available today and are widely used in the construction industry. Carriage bolts are most commonly used in wood lumber construction and, like the Hex bolt, have threaded shafts and require the use of a matching threaded nut. Lag Bolts resembles hex bolts but is made from with a pointed wood thread shaft and is used for fastening wood. Eye bolts are commonly used for hanging heavy fixtures like lighted ceiling units or storage containers and U-bolts are used for securely attaching pipes or other round objects to structures.

As you can tell, there are numerous different types of bolts and each has a different purpose. Should you use one for a project that it is normally not intended for, you will encounter problems.




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