The Innovative Technology Behind These Fastening Wonders!

Riding in a car while going down a gravel road is no doubt jarring. Now consider what driving down that dirt road all day, every day can do to the nuts and bolts in your vehicle.

It is no secret that fasteners have a hard time keeping their tension when vibration happens. This problem runs rampant throughout numerous industries and applications. The damage can range from being a minor inconvenience to a downright disaster when fasteners disassemble.

One especially tough application where vibration is incredibly destructive is on subsea risers. Vortex Induced Vibration (VIV) occurs when ocean currents flow past the risers that transport well fluids from the sea floor to the surface. To solve the problem, suppression fairings – which are protective barriers – are placed around the risers to combat the harmful effects of VIV.

However, the same currents that wreak havoc on the risers also cause problems for standard fasteners holding the suppression fairings in place. They too are affected by VIV and can loosen and fall to the sea floor. The solution: VIV Fastening Mechanism from FASTORQ.

Originally designed by FASTORQ as a custom solution to solve a customer’s VIV suppression system fastening problem, VIV Fastening Mechanisms implement ZipNut Technology to hold the fasteners in place.

These special fasteners replace the typical helical threads on standard fasteners with radial grooves that prevent loosening caused by vibration or rotation. When the ZipNut fasteners are engaged, the connection is permanent.

The conical tip on the male component assists alignment for smooth fastening into the female component. Once connected, VIV Fastening Mechanisms use the same principle of a check valve by allowing movement in only one direction.

Since ZipNut Technology replaces the time-consuming and repetitive motion of threading regular nuts, not only are VIV Fastening Mechanisms, safe and permanent, but also provide fast installation and allow free movement of the suppression fairing so it can re-orient itself to the ocean currents.

Another added benefit of the FASTORQ VIV Fastening Mechanism is their compatibility with ROV installation. Users have been able to quickly install fairings with greater reliability thanks to these fasteners.

If you find yourself fighting VIV on your subsea fairings or need a custom solution using technology similar to the one the FASTORQ customer needed with the VIV Fastening Mechanisms, ZipNut Technology is your answer.

See VIV Fastening Mechanisms  in action in the following ZipNut Technology video http://youtu.be/k28DdqVuqQc (location 1:42).

FASTORQ is the exclusive manufacturer of ZipNut Technologies for the Energy industry. FASTORQ’s innovative use of ZipNut Technology in several of its tools has increased speed, reliability and worker safety in such areas as oil exploration and production, subsea applications, nuclear energy maintenance and more. Check FASTORQ out at www.fastorq.com for solutions to your toughest application problems.

ZipNUT is a registered Trademark of ZipNut Technologies