Flow drilling
Using flow drilling and tapping we can produce threaded bushes in thin walled tube, overcoming issues with using inserts or welded bosses.
During the flow drilling process, in creating the hole, the displaced material is formed into a bush of typically 300% greater depth than the tube thickness. This additional created depth can allow for the use of threads which would otherwise have been inadequate using the parent material thickness alone. Flow drilling can be used on steel tube including stainless, aluminium, copper and certain of its alloys.
Advantages:
- No need for access to the rear of the workpiece for attaching a secondary nut
- Forms a strong screw joint allowing high loading as the material is homogeneous
- Suitable for a range of thread diameters and material thicknesses
- Fasteners such as weld nuts/rivet nuts are not required saving both cost and fitting time
