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Compression limiters stop plastic cracking

A Spirol Industries product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 22, 2009

When a manufacturer of plastic automotive engine components experienced problems during the installation of a special vacuum fitting, Spirol Industries recommended its compression limiters.

Spirol compression limiters can withstand high torque loads and prevent excessive compression of the host material.

The area around the mounting hole of the vacuum fitting, through which an M5 bolt passed, was cracking when the torque load exceeded the specification.

Controlling the torque within the required limits was difficult and so it was also not always possible to ensure the quality of the final product as the cracking did not always occur immediately upon installation.

A more robust design was required that would withstand more torque without fear of failure.

Most plastics are not able to handle the stresses imparted by the tightening torque of machine cap screws.

However, for these types of applications, Spirol Industries has developed a line of compression limiters that can withstand the torque loads and prevent excessive compression of the plastic host material.

For such applications, Spirol offers the brass series CL 101 compression limiters that can be installed with a Model HP pneumatic heat insert driver.

The heat installation causes the plastic material to melt and flow into the retention features on the limiter, which prevents it from falling out and eliminates most internal stresses in the host.

To install the limiters, the operator simply places the moulded part and the compression limiter on a two-stepped spring-loaded alignment pin and activates the machine.

The heated tip advances, engages the compression limiter, heats and installs it to the proper depth, and then withdraws.

The completed assembly is automatically ejected and the process repeated.

The use of Spirol's Series CL101 compression limiter eliminated the problem of the cracking of the plastic assemblies, while the Model HP heat insert driver provided a consistent quality end product.

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