FEBRUARY 2020 | 35
Products
Read online at www.proinstaller.co.uk
THE BENEFITS OF
ALIGNMENT WASHERS
A quick, cost-effective,
positive fixing
solution for curtain
wall applications
The Hubble telescope is best known
for the beautiful images it collects of
space. But did you know that the first
images it took were fuzzy? A 2.2-micron
misalignment in the telescope’s main
mirror was all it took to wreck the image
quality. While a slightly larger figure, a
15 mm misalignment in a curtain wall
bracket can also jeopardise the success
of project continuity, increasing the risk
of construction downtime. Here Steve
Parkes, key account manager at lead-
ing fastening and fixing supplier TFC,
explains how to overcome alignment
challenges when installing a
curtain wall.
Curtain walls took their
name from medieval cas-
tle infrastructure. While
the phrase initially re-
ferred to a defensive wall
between two towers, it
has now come to mean a
non-structural covering for
a building, such as glass pan-
els. Today, the market is boom-
ing - growing at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3 per cent and
is expected to reach £42 billion by 2025,
according to Grand View Research.
Alignment challenges
During the installation of a curtain
wall, it’s vitally important that your
fixing brackets are correctly aligned
when fixing to the building structure. If
not, it will result in time delays possible
penalties associated with the contract.
If, unfortunately, you find yourself in the
position of having alignment issues then
options are limited, you can modify your
fixing bracket and/or re-drill the anchor
positions to compensate. Both of these
solutions are very time consuming and
therefore by default, expensive. Thank-
fully there is another way: the alignment
washer, a fast, simple low-cost alterna-
tive offering a flexible
on site fixing solution.
The alignment washer,
with its oversized or slotted
holes, gives the installer that extra
leeway to line up the bracket and anchor
location and tighten down before locking
off. When the contractor is happy all
the elements have been checked for
position, the washer is injected with a
high-strength, rapid setting construc-
tion resin. We have found in all our tests
that Fischer FISV360S resin performs
perfectly in these conditions.
The Alignment washer offers several
clever design features to allow the resin
to completely fill any voids remaining af-
ter alignment, in fact it works so well the
product can be used upside down and
even under water! The joints are now per-
manently locked in their correct position.
So efficient is the locking off process we
have a number of customers who use
this method to lock off their brackets
regardless of any alignment issues.
Types of alignment washer
There are two fundamental types of
this technology, circular and rectangular.
Rectangular washers are designed for use
with cast in channels and with their slot-
ted hole give ± 25mm adjustment in one
direction. Circular washers can be used
in a variety of applications such as Stick
curtain walling, balustrades and balco-
nies. Circular washers offer a ± 15mm ad-
justment in either direction. Both circular
and rectangular washers are available to
suit M10, 12 ,16 and M20 bolts or anchors
and are hot dip galvanised for long-term
corrosion protection.
Alignment washers have been speci-
fied on numerous prestigious sites across
the UK, including hospitals, convention
centres, apartments, offices, universities
and Government buildings. If a designer,
project manager, architect or structural
engineer specifies the alignment washer
from an early stage, they can be confi-
dent that there will be no alignment prob-
lems and downtime later down the line.
A 2.2-micron misalignment was all it
took for the Hubble telescope’s images
to be blurry and a small misalignment
can lead to big losses in your construc-
tion project. To find out more information
about alignment washers and how they
could benefit your construction project,
visit https://www.tfc.eu.com/product/
alignment-washers/.
About TFC; TFC is one of the leading
fastening suppliers in Europe, offering
technical fasteners to the aerospace,
industrial, manufacturing and military
industries. A multi-location company
and leading global supplier of technical
components, TFC offers expert solutions
to all fastening applications. With 1,000s
of threaded, panel and moulded fasten-
ers, wave springs and Spirolox retaining
rings in stock, TFC’s dedicated product
specialists and Supply Chain Assist
service offer complete tailored fastening
solutions, from design to procurement.
www.tfc.eu.com