Gold award from CERN Superbolt supplied more than 1,500


high-strength mechanical tensioners, expansion bolts and multi-jackbolt tensioners to the CERN Large Hadron Collider in Switzerland. Multi-jackbolt tensioners were used for an application requiring a very high clamping force, but with limited space for tightening the bolts. Since only hand tools were required, the need to create anchor points for heavier tightening equipment was eliminated. Superbolt won the CMS gold award for its contribution to the project.


bolts to tighten instead of one. But once they see that you spin it on by hand and perform a quick tightening pattern similar to mounting a wheel on your car with hand-held tools, then they are impressed by the time savings we provide.” The safety benefits of the Superbolt


solution are highly appreciated at a time when many industries have implemented safety programmes. “Safety is a huge factor for us,” says Steinbock. “Alternative methods require equipment which can create extremely dangerous conditions. Our products are safe to use, and this is a huge benefit to our customers.” While Superbolt products are available


off-the-shelf, about half its sales are for special non-standard items in sizes all the way from M16 to over M1450. “What makes Superbolt unique is our ability to adapt to different situations, whether this is reviewing temperatures and changing materials, or customising designs to fit customer requirements. We are very adaptable and want to make sure that the customer receives the right solution and is satisified,” says Busalacchi. Users of Superbolt products including


General Electric, Siemens and Rolls- Royce appreciate the fact that that they can receive finite element analysis (FEA) carried out by independent organisations. “These organisations can provide an independent assessment of what we are telling our customers about our calculations,” says Norbert Schneider, head of engineering at Nord-Lock AG. “It boils down to safety and customers’ peace of mind.”


A current installation of Superbolts


shows just how extreme an environment they can handle. About 2,000 tensioners made from exotic nickel-based alloys have been installed at the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics in Greifswald, Germany, where research will be carried out into the principles of a fusion power plant, which, in the future, could provide safe, green energy from the same process that takes place inside the sun. “The Max Planck Institute has


chosen Superbolt because the ambient conditions under which the research is to be carried out are quite horrendous - we are talking about -270°C, radiation and an absolute vacuum, as well as extremely high loads,” says Schneider. “Basically, we are dealing with outer space conditions found close to the sun.” And highly compact machines mean that there is no access for heavy tools. “The forces are so immense that they require large bolts and the only way to tighten large bolts without heavy tools is the Superbolt principle,” says Schneider. Such characteristics and performance


mean that once customers have tried Superbolt, they rarely return to the troublesome methods of the past. “The hardest part, as with any


product, is to get people to try it,” says Steinbock. “But once people have tried it, our repeat order rate is phenomenal. Customers now count on us to provide a quality product and we receive tremendous loyalty from them in return.” www.nord-lock.com


Benefits of Superbolt include: • Only hand tools are required. • Time and labour saving. • Maximum holding power. • Increased workplace safety. • Accurate preload. • Ideal for restricted areas. • Flexing adds elasticity to the joint. • Tightens in pure tension. • Economical and reusable.


Superbolts in use: Ideal mine solution The severe environment of an


underground coal mine takes a brutal toll on crusher drum bits. It is a violent application with high RPMs and constant pounding as the bits cut into coal and rock and often break off, requiring repair underground, where accessibility is limited. With Superbolt, space restrictions are of little concern because only small hand tools are required, making the process easier and faster.


Cheaper and faster Large ammonia reactors often


require the use of large and expensive hydraulic tensioners, and tightening or untightening can take several days, working around the clock, and using cranes. At one such reactor, not only was the initial cost of the Superbolt tensioners only a fraction of the cost of the hydraulic tensioners they replaced, but the installation took two labourers only 5 hours.


www. fast f ixtechnology.com 31


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