In automobile manufacturing, fasteners are key components to ensure vehicle safety and reliability. Ordinary fasteners from the market usually cannot meet the strict requirements of the automotive industry. The following is a detailed analysis of the main reasons:
---
### **1. Inadequate material and performance standards**
- **Strength and durability**: Automotive fasteners need to withstand complex working conditions such as vibration, impact, high and low temperature alternation, and must meet specific strength grades (such as 8.8 and 10.9). Market goods may use low-quality steel or substandard heat treatment processes, resulting in insufficient tensile strength and yield strength.
- **Corrosion resistance**: Automobiles need to cope with salt spray, humidity and other environments, requiring fasteners to pass electroplating (such as zinc-nickel alloy), Dacromet coating and other processes. Ordinary products may only use simple galvanizing, which is easy to rust and fail.
---
### **2. Differences in manufacturing process and precision**
- **Dimension tolerance**: Automotive assembly requires micron-level precision (such as thread fit tolerance ±0.01mm), while market goods may exceed tolerances due to mold aging or rough process, causing assembly difficulties or uneven preload.
- **Surface treatment**: For example, anti-hydrogen embrittlement treatment (bake after pickling) is crucial for high-strength bolts. Ordinary products may omit this step, resulting in the risk of delayed fracture.
---
### **3. Lack of professional certification and testing**
- **Industry certification**: The automotive supply chain needs to pass IATF 16949 certification to ensure that the quality management system covers design, production and delivery. Market suppliers usually do not have this certification, and the process is uncontrollable.
- **Missing test items**: Automotive fasteners need to pass salt spray tests (such as 1000 hours), vibration fatigue tests (simulating 100,000 cycles), torque-angle relationship tests, etc. Market goods lack systematic verification.
---
### **4. Insufficient adaptability to extreme environments**
- **Temperature range**: Engine compartment fasteners need to withstand a temperature difference of -40°C to 150°C, and the materials need to have low cold brittleness and high thermal stability. Ordinary materials may crack at low temperatures or creep at high temperatures.
- **Anti-vibration and anti-loosening**: Precision threads (such as MJ threads), pre-applied glue (such as nylon locking glue) or mechanical locking structures (such as flange surface serrations) are required. Common threads are often used in market goods, which are easy to loosen.
---
### **5. Traceability and compliance risks**
- **Full process traceability**: The automotive industry requires that each fastener can be traced back to the production batch and the source of raw materials. Market goods usually have no complete records, and once they fail, they cannot be traced, resulting in the risk of large-scale recalls.
- **Environmental regulations**: They must comply with ELV (End-of-Life Vehicle Directive), RoHS and other restricted hazardous substances (such as lead and cadmium). Market goods may contain banned substances, leading to legal disputes.
---
### **6. Long-term impact of costs and risks**
- **Hidden costs**: Low-priced market goods may cause repair costs (such as engine dismantling and replacing bolts), brand reputation loss, and even safety accident compensation due to failure, which is far higher than the purchase cost savings.
- **Design matching**: Automotive fasteners must match the CAE (computer-aided engineering) simulation results. Ordinary products may cause local stress concentration due to stiffness mismatch, accelerating fatigue damage.
---
### **Conclusion: Professional automotive-grade suppliers must be selected**
Automotive fasteners must be purchased from suppliers that have passed IATF 16949 certification to ensure that the entire process of materials, processes, and testing complies with industry standards (such as ISO 898-1, DIN 267). For example:
- **High-end brands**: Würth, Böllhoff, etc. provide a full range of automotive-grade solutions.
- **Key parameter example**: Engine connecting rod bolts must meet σb ≥ 1040MPa, impact energy ≥ 27J (-30℃), hydrogen embrittlement test (no breakage for 200 hours).
**Suggestion**: When working with suppliers, require material reports, performance test data and PPAP (Production Part Approval Process) documents to fully control risks.
1. Analysis of the latest trends in automotive fasteners (data + interpretation)
As a key component for connecting and fixing automotive parts, the market development of automotive fasteners is closely related to changes in the automotive industry. The following is an analysis of the latest trends in the automotive fastener industry:
1. Market size and growth
According to Zhiyan Consulting data, in 2022, China's automotive fastener industry will produce about 3.679 million tons, demand will be about 2.891 million tons, the market size will be about 90.78 billion yuan, and the output value will be about 62.753 billion yuan. citeturn0search0
2. The driving role of new energy vehicles
The rapid development of new energy vehicles has brought new growth space to the fastener industry. In 2023, China's new energy vehicle sales will exceed 9 million, and the penetration rate will continue to rise. This has driven the increase in demand for fasteners suitable for new energy vehicles, prompting companies to increase their investment in research and development of related products. citeturn0search5
3. Technological innovation and intelligence
With the continuous upgrading of the automobile manufacturing industry, the fastener industry is moving towards technological innovation and intelligence. The application of intelligent manufacturing and automation technology has improved production efficiency and product quality, and met the needs of modern automobile manufacturing for high-precision and high-performance fasteners. citeturn0search0
4. Lightweight and material innovation
In order to meet the needs of lightweight automobiles, fastener materials are developing in the direction of high-strength alloys, composite materials, etc. This not only helps to reduce vehicle weight, but also improves fuel efficiency and performance. citeturn0search6
5. Environmental protection and sustainable development
The fastener industry is paying more and more attention to environmental protection and sustainable development. The use of renewable materials, reducing energy consumption, and reducing waste and emissions have become the main directions of industry development. citeturn0search0
6. Market competition pattern
At present, there are more than 7,000 fastener manufacturers in China, but there are few large enterprises and the industry concentration is low. Major enterprises include Shanghai Teqiang Automotive Fasteners Co., Ltd., Shanghai Didi Precision Fasteners Co., Ltd., etc. The industry is moving towards specialization, clustering and groupization. citeturn0search0
7. Future Outlook
It is expected that in the next few years, with the development of new energy vehicles, intelligent manufacturing and other fields, the automotive fastener industry will continue to grow. Enterprises should pay attention to technological innovation, material upgrades and environmental protection requirements to adapt to changes in market demand. citeturn0search0
Overall, the automotive fastener industry is in a critical period of technological upgrading and changes in market demand, and enterprises need to actively respond to seize new development opportunities.