- Today on the Metal Roofing Channel,
we are learning how metal roofing fasteners are tested
at the Triangle Fastener Corporation Tech Center
in Cleveland, Ohio.
(upbeat music)
What's up, guys?
Welcome to the Metal Roofing Channel.
I'm Thad Barnett.
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We release new metal roofing and metal construction content
every Monday and Wednesday.
We have a great video for you today.
We are learning how metal roofing fasteners are tested.
It's important to know the quality of the products
that you put into your metal roof are top notch,
so this video goes over, in detail, how Triangle Fastener
tests their various products and product lines
for the consumer market.
Josh from the Technical Department at TFC
is gonna be demonstrating different machines
and different methods they use to prove their fasteners
are ready for the ultimate test in metal roofing.
So I'm here with the engineering services manager.
Can you introduce yourself for me?
- My name is Josh Krohn.
Been here at, uh, Triangle for two years.
Run the tech center.
This is a test machine we use to, to test the,
the speed at which our, our screws drill and pierce metal
or sometimes wood.
It really helps us differentiate between, you know,
the standard and what we're manufacturing,
so we always want to be better than standard
and better than everybody else.
- So tell me why the drill speed is important.
- You're only gonna get some speed with certain drill bounce
so you wanna replicate that speed if possible.
Sometimes a faster speed will help you
pierce a little faster, but a lot if times
if you can slow that down,
it helps with the, the cutting of the material.
- Okay, so tell me about the materials
and the fasteners we're gonna be using in this test.
- [Josh] This is just 24 gauge steel.
It's pretty light stuff.
It's gonna be for, to kind of simulate
a roofing application. - [Thad] Yeah.
- [Josh] These are our panel-tite burr-busters.
They're great for piercing and they eliminate burrs.
- Okay, sounds good.
So tell me how the test works.
- We put the screw in.
(machine rattles)
You're gonna lower the machine down, hit the start button,
and it's automatically good to fire up and, uh,
drill and pierce, and will it will measure RPM
and the time it takes to do that.
- Sounds good, well let's run a couple screws,
and then we can take a look at the data.
- Okay.
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(machine whirs)
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- Alright, so what kind of data did we come up with?
- So here's a test report from the, the test we just did.
Our standard is 1.5 seconds,
and here are the times of all the screws.
You can see the max is .72
so we're really good on this,
really consistent at about half a second.
- So where does this standard come from?
- This is our own standard, kind of based off of
industry standards. - Yeah.
- Industry standards are based off of, you know,
the minimum you wanna have, so we wanna be better than that
so we set our own standards to make it a little bit tougher
for the screw and make a better screw.
- So we just took a look at the pierce test,
and that was really good for contractors
to see the speed at which you can drill in the fastener.
Now we're gonna look at the pull out test, right?
- Right.
- This is something really great
for engineers, designers, architects.
Tell me a little bit about this test.
- [Josh] The pull out test is a really useful test
to tell you at what load the fastener is gonna pull out
the material you're putting in.
So that's like one of the main things you're gonna use
to pick the size of the fastener and type.
- Cool, so when you're actually performing the test,
how far is the drill, or the screw,
have to be inserted? - So,
This is a gimlet point screw.
We're gonna put this all the way through the material,
and we like to see three full threads
on the other side of that material.
The first couple threads are not gonna be full threads
'cause it's a,
a pointed fastener-- - Got it.
- So we wanna get three full threads.
- [Thad] So this will give you
the full pull out value of the test,
and we'll be able to see-- - [Josh] Yep.
This is a 5/8 plywood, and we'll see what the load is.
- Alright, let's take a look.
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Alright, so the pull out test was completed.
What data are we lookin' at now?
- Right here, we're lookin' at the graph that shows
that load versus time, you see, as it's, uh, pulling.
It's a nice, pretty straight curve.
- [Thad] Uh huh. - And then when it starts
to pull out of the wood,
your load drops off, and then you end the test.
So you're looking for the maximum.
For this particular test, it's 426.
- And I think it's important to know
when we're talking about maximums,
an engineer's gonna add a safety factor, is that correct?
- Yeah, that's correct.
- Okay. - Always.
You never know what's goin' on behind the scenes, you know?
So you always add that safety factor for instances
where you, you know, things you just can't predict.
- Now sometimes we have painted fasteners,
and it's important to know that the color of the fasteners
match to the roof panels you're gonna be installing,
so how do you guys ensure that the colors are matched?
- We, we use a light box.
Typically I'll get samples from each shipment,
so that way we get a consistent look at, you know,
over and over and over again, we get the confidence--
- Right. - That we're gonna match up.
A light box like this has three sources of light.
We really concern ourselves with daylight 'cause
our fastener's gonna be outdoors,
and we just kinda match to a sample,
to the screw get.
- So you're matching by eye here,
and just looking for any types of, you know,
really noticeable color differences--
- Right. - Or something went wrong--
- Yeah. - That's kind of what, what
you're looking for, right? - Yeah, it's a little bit
of a judgment call.
- Yeah. - But, you know,
the light box is supposed to take out
a little bit of variability. - Sure.
- Otherwise, you know, you're in your office
under fluorescent lights, and it doesn't work.
Or you go outside and still...
It could be a cloudy day, sunny day, and you're...
It's gonna be a little variation on what
the color looks like. - Definitely.
(upbeat music)
Big thanks to Josh
and big thanks to Triangle Fastener Corporation
for letting us have an inside look at their tech center
and how they test metal roofing fasteners.
Please subscribe here to the Metal Roofing Channel
for more great content
and comment down below with any questions.
I'd love to talk with you.
Thanks so much for stopping by today.
As always, I am Thad Barnette,
and we will catch you next time.
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