FASTENINGS & ADHESIVES FEATURE


Being light, strong, and quick and easy to install, Fir Tree Buttons are being selected by designers for use in a wide range of industries, as JET PRESS explains


FIR TREE BUTTONS: A STRONG, LIGHTWEIGHT, SOLUTION


T


he SAE Aero Design competition is a real‐world design challenge in which


a typical aircraft development program is compressed into one calendar year. Taking participants through the system engineering process of breaking down requirements, it exposes them to the nuances of conceptual design, manufacturing, system integration, test, and sell‐off through demonstration. Vital drugs, food and other essentials


have to be delivered to vulnerable people in war torn parts of the world and, increasingly, this is carried out using lightweight unmanned aircraft. So for the 2019 competition the students had to design an aircraft that fitted into a small cardboard box. This had to be removed and assembled in under three minutes, then it needed to be hand launched and have the ability to take a payload to a specific location. To reflect the needs of


humanitarian teams in the field, the judges decided that the payload this year would be low density PVC pipes. So, the team had to find a very strong and lightweight solution, attach the pipes to the aircraft and hold them together. Furthermore, the fixing process had to be carried out quickly and easily.


A FOOL-PROOF SOLUTION For their solution, a team from the


Warsaw University of Technology decided to use large Fir Tree Buttons to attach the payload to the aircraft wings, and double ended Fir Tree Buttons to hold the pipes together. These were provided by UK supplier JET PRESS. The team decided to use Fir Tree Buttons


because they needed a ‘clever way’ to attach the pipes to the aircraft, explained Urszula Golyska, a member of the student design team. “We stumbled upon a similar kind of fastener on another company’s website. We ordered a sample, but they turned out to be too loose and didn’t hold the payload in place. So we started to look for other options – and found Fir Tree fasteners on the JET PRESS website.” For the project, the


company donated Double-Ended


FTB086 and FTB056 Fir Tree Buttons. Not only are these very light and strong, but assembly is quick and fool-proof. The students took the aircraft they designed to


the US in April, where they demonstrated the capabilities of the aircraft and discussed the


design process with the judges. The design resulted in the team


coming third in three categories: general classification, the technical report, and successful flight and weight ratio of craft to load.


RAKING IN THE BENEFITS


For almost a decade FOAMtech, a distributor and fabricator of thermal insulation products, had been using products from Chemique Adhesives to bond foam panels for internal and external applications. The company had been applying the adhesive using hand rollers, but when RockWool was added to the range of materials used in panel manufacturing


this became a messy and time consuming process. So, the company decided to use a portable rake system instead. This dispenses small glue beads, and makes the whole process quicker and more efficient. Solfre1 adhesive is used with this. This is a single component, solvent-free, polyurethane product


that is suitable for where a permanent structural bond is required – such as construction panels, truck building, and caravan panels. It offers resistance to chemicals, heat, humidity and thermal shock; and is also non-flammable and can be used across a wide range of temperatures. Using the new rake system the adhesive beads are laid down a centimetre apart. They are precisely


formed so there is no mess, no waste, and there are clear time-saving benefits, the company explains. Chemique Adhesives


www.chemiqueadhesives.com/en JET PRESS / DESIGNSOLUTIONS www.jetpress.com DESIGN SOLUTIONS | SEPTEMBER 2019 15 Fir Tree Buttons were


selected by the team from the Warsaw University of Technology because


they needed a ‘clever way’ to attach the pipes to the aircraft


Left: The team decided to use large Fir Tree Buttons to attach the payload to the aircraft wings, and double ended Fir Tree Buttons to hold the pipes together


A VARIETY OF APPLICATIONS This is not the first time designers have used these fasteners in aircraft. Fir Tree Buttons are widely used to attach the fabric of aircraft seats – with these, the button compresses on entry and expands to keep the fabric in place. Outside of the aerospace industry,


the fasteners are widely used in the automotive industry to fix panels in vehicle interiors where appearance is an important factor. JET PRESS keeps a wide range of colours in stock and any RAL colour can be matched for special orders to enable the Buttons to match the panel colour. A textured finish can also be added in the injection moulding process. Of course there are panels everywhere


that need fixing. So, machine designers use the fasteners extensively in a wide variety of situations – in fact domestic appliance designers are using them increasingly, as are electrical equipment designers. In the furniture industry Fir Tree buttons are used for joining panels, attaching parts and fixing fabric.

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