Specialized Aerospace Fasteners: Hollow Bolts and Shear Pins
Discover the hollow bolts and shear pins manufactured by RBC Bearings as part of its specialized aerospace fastener portfolio.
Components Designed to Fail in a Controlled Manner
Not every aircraft fastener is designed simply to avoid failure. Shear pins, one of the specialized products manufactured by RBC Bearings, are engineered for the opposite purpose: to fail in a controlled manner under a specific load, protecting the rest of the structure from more severe damage. Alongside shear pins, this product line includes hollow bolts, solid bolts manufactured to industry standards, and custom-machined fasteners and nuts. These components are available with hot-forged heads, rolled threads, and HVOF coatings, and are produced in large diameters exceeding three-quarters of an inch for applications requiring high structural strength. These products are part of a much broader aerospace portfolio that includes spherical bearings, thin section bearings, journal bearings, airframe control bearings, rings and seals, hydraulic actuators, control rods, ducting solutions, and precision-machined components manufactured from exotic materials using 3-, 3.5-, 4-, and 5-axis machining processes. The concept of a component intentionally designed to fail in a predictable way may seem contradictory in aviation, but it is actually a deliberate safety strategy. It is far better for a shear pin to fail exactly where it was engineered to do so than for an unexpected overload to damage a critical structural part of the aircraft—one that would be far more expensive and hazardous to replace. This same engineering principle—anticipating where and how a component should fail before it does so unpredictably—extends well beyond aerospace. At BIOSA, we apply this philosophy when recommending mechanical protection solutions for industrial equipment exposed to occasional overload conditions. These specialized fasteners are manufactured using hot-forging and thread-rolling processes, techniques that improve fatigue resistance compared to conventional machining. This is a critical advantage for components that must withstand continuous loading and unloading cycles throughout the service life of an aircraft.