Posted by Sherman in Idaho [108.162.246.24] on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 14:46:32 :
In Reply to: Re: Another bolt, washer question. posted by Tim Holloway [162.158.78.98] on Wednesday, September 21, 2016 at 06:21:39 :
People used to think lock washers worked by the "teeth" digging into the metal, but it turns out they actually just work like springs. Nuts and bolts come loose because under vibration they are momentarily unloaded, and during that millisecond or so, they can unscrew a little bit. Repeat that enough times, and things fall apart. A lock washer ensures that the bolt is never totally unloaded -- there's always at least some spring pressure on it, and that's enough to keep things from unscrewing. It follows that it doesn't really matter if the lock washer is under the nut or under the bolt head, or even somewhere in the middle of a complicated stack. So long as it's somewhere between the bolt head and the nut, it will keep pressure on the whole assembly and will do its job.
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