FOCUS ON FASTENERS
Market applications for industrial fasteners
■ Automotive.
■ Industrial machinery
■ Aerospace
■ Building and construction
■ Energy market( wind turbines, hydrogen plants, energy storage systems etc.)
■ Home appliances
■ Motors and pumps
■ Furniture
■ Plumbing products
■ Lawn and garden
■ Other applications.
A rising wave of miniaturisation is also driving demand for micro fasteners and miniature fasteners in various types and styles. Miniature clinch fasteners offer strong, permanent and reusable fastener solutions in applications utilising ultra-thin metal sheets.
“ The rising demand from the automotive sector, the increase in the adoption of new energy sources( such as wind and solar) and expanding infrastructure spending globally are expected to drive market growth. New deals and developments, including strategic acquisitions, partnerships, expansions, investments in new technologies and innovations in products are reshaping the industry landscape. Major market players have adopted both organic and inorganic strategies including acquisitions, partnerships and expansions,” commented analyst Markets & Markets in its February 2026 report on the global industrial fastener industry.
“ The category of fasteners that is expected to grow most rapidly is bolts, since they are needed in high-load, safety-critical and structural use in swiftly growing industries.
High-strength bolts offer strong clamping and long-term joint stability. The growth in the number of renewable energy systems, particularly of wind turbines and solar systems, is boosting the demand for precisionengineered bolts in large quantities. Bolts are also increasingly used by automotive, aerospace and industrial equipment manufacturers in assemblies that need preload control, straightforward inspection and maintenance,” it added.
Increased levels of automation in enduser industries, particularly the automotive sector, have fundamentally changed the requirements of fasteners in recent years. In the past, the emphasis of production centred around time, handling and effort, but now the key characteristics are repeatability and tight performance tolerance.
The increased life expectancy of many end-use products, such as the two-sided galvanization of automotive bodies, better finishes, increased use of plastics and new designs in engines and transmissions have required fasteners to adapt to greater longevity. This has resulted in old practices, such as electroplating and phosphate and oil finishing, being replaced by sophisticated organic coatings. In turn, this has led to adjustments in tightening strategies and torque / tension testing.
Organic coatings include dry paint films or the subsequent oil treatment of products. Pigmented oil films have proved both versatile and capable of self-healing. Zinc-rich coatings have proved useful where a sacrificial layer is required for use against other metals, such as aluminium or magnesium, to protect against galvanic corrosion.
Fastener types
Fastener product segments include bolts, nuts, screws, rivets / washers and miscellaneous( pins, nails and others). Industrial fasteners( including nuts, bolts and screws) are used to join or fix two or more objects together. These products increase the durability of joined parts and can be used on different kinds of substrates such as metals and plastics. Industrial-grade products are commercially available in several forms including externally threaded, aerospace-grade and other standard fasteners.
The most widely used fasteners include nuts, bolts, screws, bolts, clips and grommets. Stainless steel is the most common material used for manufacturing internally threaded fasteners. Brass, alloy steel and aluminium are other materials used to manufacture them. Most nuts are further plated or polished using chrome to improve performance and durability in the end-use application.
According to TZR Shengen Metal, fastener types include:
Self-clinching fasteners
“ Self-clinching fasteners are intended to become part of the sheet metal part in which they are used. Some of the most popular ones are self-clinching nuts, studs and standoffs. Installation entails driving the fastener into a hole of the right size with the use of a parallelacting press. In this process, the knurled clinching ring, or a specially profiled head of the fastener, forces the host sheet metal material aside and makes it cold flow into an annular recess or undercut in the shank or pilot of the fastener. This displaced material effectively immobilises the fastener and offers high resistance to push-out and torque-out forces,” commented TZR Shengen Metal.
Some of the benefits include the ability to produce strong, permanent fastening or attachment points in thin gauges( good for applications that require high strength in the joint) and the ability to install on one side only. One of the major conditions is the ability to access both sides of the sheet during the installation and the proper press equipment to apply the right seating force and parallelism. They are commonly used in electronics housing, automotive parts and aerospace industries.
Rivets
Image: SJW.
“ Riveting is one of the earliest and most effective ways of joining two or more pieces of sheet metal together due to its ease of use. A rivet is simply a cylindrical shaft with a head
46 | ismr. net | ISMR March 2026