ABSTRACT
Fasteners are used in applications for strength, appearance, and reusability. Considering them in reverse order, reusability is often a consideration since many assemblies may need to be taken apart for maintenance, service, and repair. Even in some moderate-volume assemblies, it may be desirable by either some percentage of the target market or the product manufacturer, if not both, to have the ability at some time after manufacturing assembly to disassemble. Even for those products that have only a remote possibility of ever needing disassembly for service or repair, there is no way of knowing which of them will need to be disassembled. If only one in a thousand products needs reusability in its fasteners, for whatever purpose, the reusability of the fastenings is a design requirement. Since knowing which 1% will require reusability is not possible during assembly, it is a requirement for all of the assemblies produced during the production run.
