BOBTAILS- A STEP INTO A "GREENER" FUTURE
Climate change has had an immense impact on the world we live in today, causing a vast interest in producing renewable resources. Wind turbines, in particular, can generate substantial amounts of energy without producing large amounts of greenhouse gases unlike alternative solutions of energy production. To meet the high demands of conscious consumers, we begin to see an abundance of wind farms both on and offshore.
If you are involved in the construction of wind turbines, you know that they need to be as stable as possible. Each one is an enormous investment, not just in finances but in the future. When building these machines, you need to carefully consider which fasteners can hold all their complicated parts together with low maintenance, high strength, and ease of installation. Below we have outlined some information about the factors that you must keep in mind when looking for wind turbine fasteners.
High-Stress Tolerance
Firstly, wind turbine fasteners need to be capable of tolerating high stress and in some cases hurricane-force winds. It may not seem obvious from pictures alone, but wind turbines are massive. Don Quixote would not be entirely mistaken in calling them giants: they can be as tall as 600 feet. Newer ones will only be taller, as each extra foot enables them to catch more wind on wider blades and generate more energy.
Due to their sheer size, they can also weigh several hundred tons. That is a substantial amount of weight that every rivet must be able to support without deforming. Blind Rivet Supply sells the full line of Huck Bobtail Fasteners and Collars which are designed to provide a very high joining strength required for wind turbine applications for the extremely tall towers constructed offshore and in many of the vast wind farms. Huck Bobtail Fasteners boast the fact that they offer 10 times the fatigue strength of conventional nuts and bolts as well as being maintenance free in that they do not require re-torquing, re-tightening or re-checking.
Bulk Pricing
There are many different components to each part of the turbine, including the base, the tower, the hub, and the blades. All of these parts are enormous, and the number of fasteners needed to join them could easily exceed 25,000 pcs. We cannot neglect to mention the intensive process of transporting all the components — all those vehicles may require rivets as well.
Frugality should not be the most prominent factor when choosing rivets for this project. Even if they cost extra, paying for high-quality fasteners is ultimately less expensive than watching a wind turbine fail. With that said, you may still want to negotiate with suppliers for a bulk discount, especially when you are buying by the thousand.
Extreme Vibration Resistance
When a wind turbine is in operation, its gigantic blades constantly revolve and the engine converts that motion into electricity. As this happens, each section of the wind turbine, from top to bottom, will experience persistent, powerful vibration, which can loosen bolts that are not strong enough. The rivets used during their construction should have extremely high tensile strength, for better resistance to the constant quaking.
Ideally, the fasteners you get should also be able to deform in such a way during installation that they seal any gaps between the nut and the bolt. Even if they only loosen a little bit, you will have a difficult time with maintenance for so many bolts in such a large and awkward structure. This task will be much simpler if the bolts are designed as one-and-done jobs.
Anyone involved in the creation of wind turbines may find structural rivets with all these qualities and more at Blind Rivet Supply. We offer high-quality rivets, fasteners, and fastening tools for an array of applications, including turbine components and the vehicles that transport them. Consider this our role in the global pursuit of cleaner energy and the battle against climate change.