Industrial Fasteners Institute

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Industrial Fasteners Institute
AbbreviationIFI
Formation1931 (1931)
PurposeTrade and standards organization
HeadquartersIndependence, Ohio, United States
Website https://www.indfast.org

The Industrial Fasteners Institute (IFI) [1] is an American non-profit trade and standards organization and publisher, based in Independence, Ohio. It was founded as the American Institute of Bolt, Nut and Rivet Manufacturers in 1931 and changed its name to the IFI in 1949. [2] Among their publications is the frequently cited IFI Fastener Technology Handbook, a reference frequently used as a design guide by mechanical engineers, machinists, and others involved in the production of high-quality machine screws, bolts, nuts, and other engineered fasteners.

Contents

Leadership

Herman H. Lind became the organization's executive vice president in 1937. [3]

Frank Masterson was elected president of the institute by its 200 members in 1953 and assumed office in January 1954. [4]

The organization's chair for the 2023–24 term is Gene Simpson. [5]

Activities

The IFI has established industrial standards. [6] One such standard is "IFI Standard 125", which concerns various forms of thread-locking fluid. [6]

Most standards-compliant screws and fasteners that are used in the US are required to be marked, so that the manufacturer can be identified. The IFI maintains a list of trademarks and other identifying markers used by manufacturers. [7]

It has sponsored scholarships for industrial design training at the Fastener Training Institute. [8]

In 1946, the institute held its annual meeting in New York City and announced plans to request an increase in price ceilings on their industry's products from the Office of Price Administration. [9]

In 1947, the institute criticized a War Assets Administration contract that sold 7.5 million dollars worth of metal fasteners for $22.50 per ton to one nut and bolt company. [10]

The institute played a role in debates about proposals for the United States to convert to the metric system. As of 1973, the IFI had 60 members, who reportedly produced 60 percent of the nuts, bolts, and screws manufactured in the United States. The organization initially opposed the U.S. conversion to metric measurements, but by 1973 had changed its position to support voluntary adoption of metric system standards without government interference, according to institute president Frank Masterson. [11]

In 2012, Joe Greenslade, the technical director of the institute at the time, [12] said he concured with an article in Physics World that "faulty rivets" may play a role in the sinking of Titanic. [13]

Related trade bodies for the fastener industry include the European Industrial Fasteners Institute (EIFI), Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM), The Fastener Institute of Japan (FIJ), Taiwan Industrial Fastener Institute (TIFI), Fastener Industrial Coalition (FIC) USA, and Korea Federation of Fastener Industrial Cooperatives (KFFIC). [14]

Publications

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivet</span> Permanent mechanical fastener

A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the tail. On installation, the deformed end is called the shop head or buck-tail.

The Unified Thread Standard (UTS) defines a standard thread form and series—along with allowances, tolerances, and designations—for screw threads commonly used in the United States and Canada. It is the main standard for bolts, nuts, and a wide variety of other threaded fasteners used in these countries. It has the same 60° profile as the ISO metric screw thread, but the characteristic dimensions of each UTS thread were chosen as an inch fraction rather than a millimeter value. The UTS is currently controlled by ASME/ANSI in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fastener</span> Hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together

A fastener or fastening is a hardware device that mechanically joins or affixes two or more objects together. In general, fasteners are used to create non-permanent joints; that is, joints that can be removed or dismantled without damaging the joining components. Steel fasteners are usually made of stainless steel, carbon steel, or alloy steel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washer (hardware)</span> Thin plate with a hole, normally used to distribute the load of a threaded fastener

A washer is a thin plate with a hole that is normally used to distribute the load of a threaded fastener, such as a bolt or nut. Other uses are as a spacer, spring, wear pad, preload indicating device, locking device, and to reduce vibration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Socket wrench</span> Lever with interchangeable socket heads to grip or turn a bolt or nut

A socket wrench is a type of spanner that uses a closed socket format, rather than a typical open wrench/spanner to turn a fastener, typically in the form of a nut or bolt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screw thread</span> Helical structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force

A screw thread, is a helical structure used to convert between rotational and linear movement or force. A screw thread is a ridge wrapped around a cylinder or cone in the form of a helix, with the former being called a straight thread and the latter called a tapered thread. A screw thread is the essential feature of the screw as a simple machine and also as a threaded fastener.

British Standard Whitworth (BSW) is an imperial-unit-based screw thread standard, devised and specified by Joseph Whitworth in 1841 and later adopted as a British Standard. It was the world's first national screw thread standard, and is the basis for many other standards, such as BSF, BSP, BSCon, and BSCopper.

The ISO metric screw thread is the most commonly used type of general-purpose screw thread worldwide. They were one of the first international standards agreed when the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) was set up in 1947.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rivet nut</span> Kind of threaded insert

A rivet nut, also known as a blind rivet nut, or rivnut, is a one-piece internally threaded and counterbored tubular rivet that can be anchored entirely from one side. It is a kind of threaded insert. There are two types: one is designed to form a bulge on the back side of the panel as a screw is tightened in its threads. The other is similarly drawn in using a screw, but is drawn into the sleeve instead of creating a bulge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Screw</span> Type of fastener characterized by a thread wrapped around a cylinder core

A screw is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to the head. The most common uses of screws are to hold objects together and there are many forms for a variety of materials. Screws might be inserted into holes in assembled parts or a screw may form its own thread.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nut (hardware)</span> Type of fastener with a threaded hole

A nut is a type of fastener with a threaded hole. Nuts are almost always used in conjunction with a mating bolt to fasten multiple parts together. The two partners are kept together by a combination of their threads' friction, a slight stretching of the bolt, and compression of the parts to be held together.

United States Standard thread, also known as Sellers Standard thread, Franklin Institute thread and American Standard thread, is a standard for inch based threaded fasteners and washers.

ISO 898 is an international standard that defines mechanical and physical properties for metric fasteners. This standard is the origin for other standards that define properties for similar metric fasteners, such as SAE J1199 and ASTM F568M. It is divided into five (nonconsecutive) parts:

ASTM A325 is an ASTM International standard for heavy hex structural bolts, titled Standard Specification for Structural Bolts, Steel, Heat Treated, 120/105 ksi Minimum Tensile Strength. It defines mechanical properties for bolts that range from 1⁄2 to 1+1⁄2 inches in diameter.

ASTM F568M is an ASTM International standard for metric bolts, screws and studs that are used in general engineering applications. It is titled: Standard Specification for Carbon and Alloy Steel Externally Threaded Metric Fasteners. It defines mechanical properties for fasteners that range from M1.6 to 100 in diameter. The standard was withdrawn in 2012. and has been replaced by ISO 898-1

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Threaded rod</span> Rod with ridges wrapped around it

A threaded rod, also known as a stud, is a relatively long rod that is threaded on both ends; the thread may extend along the complete length of the rod. They are designed to be used in tension. Threaded rod in bar stock form is often called all-thread (ATR); other names include fully-threaded rod, redi-rod, continuously-threaded rod, and TFL rod.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bolt (fastener)</span> Threaded fastener with an external male thread requiring a matching female thread

A bolt is an externally helical threaded fastener capable of being tightened or released by a twisting force (torque) to a matching nut. The bolt has an external male thread requiring a matching nut with a pre-formed female thread.

The Löwenherz thread is a largely obsolete metric thread form designed in the late nineteenth century and frequently applied in precision instruments. It is named after Dr. Leopold Löwenherz, who was the director of the metrology institute Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Berlin.

Amount of the no-load tension in the bolted joint (preload) greatly affects the reliability of the joint. Multiple techniques exist for preload control to ensure that the tension in the bolt is close to the one specified in the design :

References

  1. ↑ "Industrial Fasteners Institute". Indfast.org. Retrieved 2012-05-01.
  2. ↑ "Nuts Become Fasteners". The Pittsburgh Press. 19 June 1949. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  3. ↑ "Financial Notes". The New York Times. 6 January 1937. p. 37. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "New President Elected By Fasteners Institute". The New York Times. 21 December 1953. p. 41. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "Fastener-World Magazine No.200_Global Version". Issuu. 17 May 2023. p. 160. Retrieved 14 Nov 2023.
  6. 1 2 Bickford, John (1998-04-28). "Vibration- and Shock-Induced Loosening". Handbook of Bolts and Bolted Joints. CRC Press. p. 819. ISBN   978-0-8247-9977-9.
  7. ↑ Bickford, John (1998-04-28). Handbook of Bolts and Bolted Joints. CRC Press. p. 150. ISBN   978-0-8247-9977-9.
  8. ↑ Fastener Training Institute (13 February 2020). "Fastener Training Week in Cleveland". Fastener + Fixing Magazine. Retrieved 2023-11-14.
  9. ↑ "Asks New OPA Rise on Bolts and Nuts". The New York Times. 12 April 1946. p. 38. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  10. ↑ "Metal Fasteners Sale Criticized". Spokane Daily Chronicle. Associated Press. 12 April 1947. p. 2. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  11. ↑ Wilcke, Gerd (24 June 1973). "Here Comes the Metric System, America; Big Switch Seems Just A Matter Of Time". The New York Times . p. 139. Retrieved 28 November 2023.
  12. ↑ Schuetze, Meredith. "Sad News – Joe Greenslade". Home. Retrieved 20 Nov 2023.
  13. ↑ "Scientist Lends Voice To Titanic". Fastener World inc. 27 Apr 2012. Retrieved 20 Nov 2023.
  14. ↑ "Design engineers and fasteners". Fastener + Fixing Magazine. May 2020. Retrieved 2023-11-14.


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