Powering the North | Knapp Fasteners Inc.

Heavy duty fasteners are used in Canadian mining and heavy extraction processes. From a heavy duty truck to a remote mineral processing plant, fasteners are usually the last thing people think about until they need it. When one unit fails from a sheared bolts or seized threads, it can halt production. Northern remote plants can halt from a single assembly line being down. As a fastener distributor that supplies these industries across Canada, we see when our customers need a product immediately to get things running again. These industries often work in bad weather including freezing temperatures like -40°C with heavy salt and debris exposure. Overtime, these things will impact your basic fasteners. Other factors to consider with heavy duty machinery is the high impact shock loads and corrosive slurry.

Hardware selection is critical for safety and operational decisions. We take a look at some of the most important things for you to consider.

Cold Climate Brittleness

In mild climates, bolting design primarily focuses on standard yield strength and torque specs. In Northern mining, extreme cold shifts the focus to material toughness. As temperatures drop below -20°C, carbon steels undergoes a brittle transition. This means that regular alloy bolts lose their flexibility and shatter like glass under the heavy shock loads of rock crushers or uneven haul roads. To prevent failure, northern operations rely on specialized heat-treated fasteners. These are designed specifically for low temperatures, an example of this is ASTM A320 Grade L7 bolts.

Fighting Slurry, Corrosion, & Wear

In previous blog posts, we’ve talked about what slurry and corrosion can do to products. Slurry is a thick mixture of water, chemicals, and crushed debris (like rock or sand). Corrosion comes as a result from this and causes wear on the fasteners which are then more likely to fail. In mining environments, fasteners are subject to mechanical stress, abrasive wear, and chemical exposure. This can be caused from acidic water and heavy salt. There are a lot of anti-seize products that quickly wash away. Standard zinc plating also tends to flake and slowly chip away during long exposure. Getting product with hot dip galvanizing, mechanical zinc, or stainless steel products provide long term protection again slurry exposure. The vibration from these heavy machines also needs to be considered. Using a wedge locking washer system for this rather than traditional split lock washers is often useful. Similarly, using a deformed thread lock nut instead of a standard nylon insert lock nut to maintain proper clamp load will help over the long term.

Supply Chain Reliability in the Remote North

For remote sites, shipments often take longer to get there and are much more expensive. Planning ahead will save you a lot of time, stress, and budget. If rush shipments are required, we can expedite the shipments once the product is available. With northern sites the ice roads can close or the weather can ground freight planes. When this happens and an emergency shipment for heavy hex bolts or plow bolts, it can take days until the fasteners will reach the site. We offer a lot of different solutions to help keep your operations running including:

Custom Job Kitting: We will package your hard into labelled, job-ready kits however you want. This saves your employees time and reduces lost product. It also helps when working in less than ideal weather conditions so staff aren’t sorting through loose parts in freezing temperatures.
On-Site Stocking Options: We can keep excess product on hand for you. If your usage is high, we offer blanket orders that can be released in regular intervals.
Certifications: For these heavy duty products, we often have Mill Test Reports (MTRs) available. Just let us know at time of quote if you need an MTR or any other types of certifications so we can have it ready for your order.

At Knapp, we want you to have the exact product you need, exactly when you need it! If you have kitting needs or want to look into different stocking options, please contact our sales team. We source from a worldwide network of fastener manufacturers and can source almost any type of fasteners you need to keep you running smoothly.