What is a rivet nut and where should it be used?
A rivet nut is a special type of nut that is installed into a prepared hole in a piece of sheet metal and secured prior to assembly of a bolt. A special installation tool is required to ‘set’ the nuts into the prepared hole. The nuts are placed into the hole and ‘upset’ on the back side (much like a blind rivet) which secures them, eliminating the need for a wrench.
Standard rivet nuts have been around for years, and work well as attachment points for low strength joints that don’t see much stress. These standard nuts are not high strength and generally cannot support enough clamp load for structural joints.
Rivet Nut Uses
Standard rivet nuts must be used with through holes in harder materials such as steel or aluminum and do not work as well in softer materials like wood or plastic. The bulge formed on the back side must have unrestricted space to form, and will apply pressure to the plate which could overly stress plastic or wood.
Specialty type rivet nuts exist, such as the ecosyn®-BCT which employ bulge control technology to allow them to work in blind holes and/or soft materials such as plastic. There is also a high strength version of ecosyn®-BCT which may be used in structural joints and can create high clamp loads for use with high strength bolts.
If you are currently using weld nuts, or have areas with limited access to one side, consider looking at rivet nuts. Check out rivet nuts and ecosyn®-BCT nuts at www.bossard.com or contact us at ProvenProductivity@Bossard.com for more information. Look for a future blog discussing tools for installation of rivet nuts.
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