MS9226-04 Safety wire - Lock Wire 0.032 Oxidized Inconel - American Wire Works (2024)

FAQs

What is Inconel safety wire used for? ›

Inconel wire finds applications in industries such as aerospace, chemical processing, and marine engineering, where exposure to extreme temperatures and corrosive substances is common. It is widely used in the production of gas turbine components, heat exchangers, and aircraft engine parts.

Lock wire's central purpose is to prevent the loosening of nuts, bolts, and other fasteners. To wire lock nuts and bolts, you thread it through two or more fasteners, ensuring they remain as secure as possible. Safety wiring prevents the loosening of fasteners by counteracting it with more tightening.

Take the safety wire, thread one end of the safety wire through one of the holes and pull it back, and thread the other end through another hole in the same bolt and bring them together. Put the two ends of the wire equal in length and form a loop through the bolt head.

The Different Types of Safety Wire

The most common sizes for safety wire are 0.032 and 0.041 inches in diameter. However, thicker wire will be needed to hold larger screws in place. The most common material for safety wire is stainless steel. Stainless steel is used when you don't want what it is securing to move.

Both of these factors make Inconel ideal alloys for applications from hot section gas turbines to deep sea well drilling. So what is the downside of these alloys? They are expensive, hard to machine, and hard to work.

This is because Inconel is stronger than stainless steel at high temperatures, while being more resistant to oxidation and scaling as well. However, there are specific chemicals that the stainless steel might be better at resisting than Inconel—such as sulfuric acid.

It is a method of wiring together two or more units in such a manner that any tendency of one to loosen is counteracted by the tightening of the wire. Safety wire is necessary in areas where a bolt could loosen during vibration. Used properly, it will lock so that the wire remains taut and prevents further movement.

Safe-T-Cable is an alternative to safety wire. Safe-T-Cable is defined as a group of strands right-hand helically twisted without a core. This eliminates the need for twisting during installation, as is required with safety wire.

The package the wire comes in will tell you the outside diameter of the wire so you can select how large of a hole you will need to put it through. The size hole to drill is 1/16". Use 0.032 or 0.025 safety wire.

Modern safety wire is made of soft stainless steel and typically comes in three sizes — 0.020 (20-thousandths of an inch) safeties electrical plugs; 0.040 or 0.041 (most often referred to as 40-thousandths) almost exclusively safeties propeller mounting bolts and turnbuckles; and 0.032 (32-thousandths) safeties ...

What is the difference between lockwire and safety wire? ›

Traditional lock wire produces very sharp ends when cut, which poses a serious threat of injury to the operator. The fused ends and flexible nature of Bergen Safety Cable removes the risk of injury 100 percent.

The alloy is non-magnetic in the annealed condition. Used: Safety wire/lockwire, tie wire, not heat treatable. *Typical Chemistry listed above is for reference only and is not to be used for specification purposes.

In the U.S., the National Electrical Code (NEC) designates the color code for electrical cables. “Hot” cables are black, red, and blue. In cases of higher voltage lines, orange might also be used to indicate a hot cable. White or gray indicates a neutral, and green or green with a yellow stripe indicates a ground.

While both alloys have excellent corrosion resistance properties, the copper content in monel gives them outstanding resistance to seawater or salt sprays. Though Inconel alloys also have the ability to resist seawater, it is too expensive for use in marine engineering applications.

INCONEL alloy 600, for example, is used for jet engine and airframe components, such as lockwire, exhaust liners and turbine seals. While INCONEL alloy 601 has such high mechanical strength and is so easy to work with, making it useful across a broad range of aerospace applications.

Safety wire is necessary in areas where a bolt could loosen during vibration. Used properly, it will lock so that the wire remains taut and prevents further movement. Think of it as wearing a belt with your suspenders.

An electrical fuse is a safety device that operates to provide protection against the overflow of current in an electrical circuit. An important component of an electrical fuse is a metal wire or strip that melts when excess current flows through it.