Rivet Nut USA Q&AAnswer
Apr 28, 2022 - 08:34 AM
Aluminum Plusnuts® do offer solid engineering performance, although steel and stainless steel offer superior performance vs aluminum. We have included a link to reference engineering data at the bottom of this article. Depending on how you mount and how many Plusnuts® are used to mount your equipment, both those will drive the performance demands of the Plusnut®.
In general, Plusnuts® are used in a variety of nautical applications and offer good performance data when installed correctly. For example, a user might have different application thicknesses, so the user would purchase an “short” 1/4-20 Plusnut® that installs into .280” material (CC-A25P280, CC-S25P280, CC-SS25P280) or a “long” 1/4-20 Plusnut® that installs into material above .280” and below .500” (CC-A25P500, CC-S25P500, CC-SS25P500). As a Plusnut® has a wider backside install bulge than a rivet nut and a wider head on the front side, the Plusnut® will generally offer better pull-out and push-through resistance vs a rivet nut.
As far as corrosion resistance goes, aluminum is widely used in the nautical industry for its light weight and superior corrosion resistance qualities; stainless steel also offers great corrosion resistance (400 series stainless is good but 300 series is the best); and steel with zinc plating offers good corrosion resistance as long as it is not introduced into a situation with ongoing/perpetual water environment.
