SmartBolts Promote Safety for Plastic Manufacturers

Plastic is everywhere, and for good reason. It’s a durable and inexpensive material that can be manufactured into almost any part imaginable. But before it ends up in our consumer products, plastics must be molded into shape.

Another Successful Manufacturing Day

Thanks to all our visitors who helped make this year’s Manufacturing Day another success! We had a great time showing our visitors our lean manufacturing process and sharing sneak previews of upcoming SmartBolts technology. Manufacturing in Maryland is strong and getting stronger.

Electrical Busway More Reliable with SmartBolts

Electrical busway is a modular power distribution product commonly used in commercial environments. Busway provides an efficient, reliable, flexible and safe method of providing electricity throughout a facility (think of busway as wire and conduit on steroids).

Need for SmartBolts Technology Apparent at Off Shore Wind Energy Forum

Update: On May 11, 2017, the Maryland Public Service Commission awarded offshore wind renewable energy credits to two projects to be built off the coast of Maryland. U.S. Wind, Inc. and Skipjack Offshore Energy, LLC are approved to construct 368 megawatts of capacity, together yielding over $1.8 billion of in-state spending.

bolts on an offshore wind turbine

5 Causes of Loose Bolts – and 5 Ways to Prevent Them

A pressurized bolted flange joint assembly begins to leak, creating a safety hazard. A rotor with its blades separates from the nacelle and spins off a wind turbine, crashing to the ground. Under constant vibration from the engine of an ocean freighter, loose bolts on a large piece of mining equipment work their way off […]

wind turbine

SmartBolts: Keeping the Power Flowing for Over 20 Years

If you work in a facility like a Data Center there’s a good chance it relies on overhead electrical busway to keep the power flowing 24/7. And for the past two decades, many of the world’s largest producers of busway have used SmartBolts to keep critical bridge joints properly tightened. Achieving proper bridge joint bolt […]

slinky toy over stretched

What is Proof Load of a Bolt and How is it Different from Yield Strength?

Your SmartBolts shipment has arrived, along with a Certificate of Compliance, which lists your SmartBolt specifications including bolt dimensions, grade and finish, as well as proof load, and other important information. In this article, we will explain in simple terms the meaning of proof load and why it’s important to know the proof load when […]

What is the Nut Factor and How Does it Affect Torque?

When you tighten a bolt in a bolted joint, you use a twisting force, called torque. Torque is related to bolt tightness, but many additional factors – such as friction – combined into a single “nut factor” can have a significant impact on the relationship of torque to the tightness of the bolted joint. Here’s […]

Liberation from the Impact of Lubricants on Torque Readings

From the dawn of civilization, lubricants have helped make it easier to slide objects past one another. Olive oil helped ancient Egyptians maneuver massive stone blocks into pyramids, and later melted animal fats greased chariot wheels. Up until the 1970s, oil from sperm whales was used to grease automobile transmissions. Today, a wide variety of […]