The invention relates to Disclosed is a fastener assembly comprising at least one of a bolt member and a nut member; and a drive element adapted for engagement by an installation/driving tool, said drive element comprising a body. The body of the drive element is joined either to the bolt member or to the nut member by means of an interposed interlayer structure, the interlayer structure being adapted to fracture in torsional shear and/or tensile stress in response to a relative rotational and/or tensile force applied to the drive element with the installation/driving tool.

A trim panel assembly includes a trim panel configured to be removably connected to a pillar of a vehicle body structure. A connecting member includes a first part connected to the trim panel and a second part configured to be connected to the pillar. The first part is configured to be separable from the second part. A fastening member is connected between the first and second parts of the connecting member to limit a separation distance of the trim panel when the first part separates from the second part.

Deformable spacers and spacer assemblies absorb energy when flange bolts are subjected to compressive axial loads by plastically deforming, failing in shear, rupturing or in a combination of failure modes so the flange bolts and the flanges connected thereby are not damaged. One deformable spacer may have a hollow cylindrical body with a plurality of elongated slots there through. Another deformable spacer may have an annular stiffener extending inwardly from an inner surface of a hollow cylindrical body. A spacer assembly may include an inner cylindrical body, and outer cylindrical body, and an annular shoulder extending from one of the bodies and engaged by the other body shears when a shear failure load is applied to the flange bolt. Another spacer assembly may include an annular belt around a cylindrical body so that the belt will rupture before the cylindrical body plastically deforms.

A hardware hider cap assembly is provided for covering a fastener, and more specifically, covering a fastener head. The hider cap assembly can include a base member with an opening for receiving the fastener and a cap member releasably coupled to the base member via a threaded engagement. The cap member can include a tab or protrusion configured to engage with a notch in the base member, thereby preventing overtightening of the cap member onto the base member.

A thermally stabilized fastener system and method is disclosed. The disclosed system/method integrates a fastener (FAS) incorporating a faster retention head (FRH), fastener retention body (FRB), and fastener retention tip (FRT) to couple a mechanical member stack (MMS) in a thermally stabilized fashion using a fastener retention receiver (FRR). The MMS includes a temperature compensating member (TCM), a first retention member (FRM), and an optional second retention member (SRM). The TCM is constructed using a tailored thermal expansion coefficient (TTC) that permits the TCM to compensate for the thermal expansion characteristics of the FAS, FRM, and SRM such that the force applied by the FRH and FRR portions of the FAS to the MMS is tailored to a specific temperature force profile (TFP) over changes in MMS/FAS temperature. The TCM may be selected with a TTC to achieve a uniform TFP over changes in MMS/FAS temperature.

The invention relates to a separation device for a spacecraft or launcher. The separation device includes an inner housing divided into at least two portions locked to each other by a locking device in a locking position. The locking device is arranged to move between a locking position and a releasing position. The separation device includes an initiator including means for providing high pressure fluid to an expansion chamber when the separation device is switched from a locked state to a released state. The high pressure fluid in an expansion chamber moves the locking device from the locking position to the releasing position when the separation device is switched from the locked state to the released state. The separation device includes a dampening arrangement arranged to attenuate a peak load when the separation device is switched from the locked state to the released state.

A coupler for separable physically coupling together a pair of objects includes two parts, on opposite sides of a boundary, that have different piezoelectric characteristics. When an electric field is applied to the coupler parts the piezoelectric forces induce a mechanical stress that separates the parts. The parts may be made of the same or a similar material, such as a suitable ceramic material, with the different piezoelectric characteristics produced by templating the parts with different domain orientations, from different seeds, for example using a three-dimensional manufacturing processes. The coupler may be used to allow shock-free (or reduced shock) separation of parts, such as separation of stages of vehicles such as flight vehicles.

A coupler for separable physically coupling together a pair of objects includes two parts, on opposite sides of a boundary, that have different piezoelectric characteristics. When an electric field is applied to the coupler parts the piezoelectric forces induce a mechanical stress that separates the parts. The parts may be made of the same or a similar material, such as a suitable ceramic material, with the different piezoelectric characteristics produced by templating the parts with different domain orientations, from different seeds, for example using a three-dimensional manufacturing processes. The coupler may be used to allow shock-free (or reduced shock) separation of parts, such as separation of stages of vehicles such as flight vehicles.

A high-pressure sealing ring for hydraulic assemblies has a substantiallyL-shaped body with a leg and foot, where an external heel-portion is designed to provide a rolling line of sealing contact with the seat in the cylinder or piston in which it is seated.

An explosive bolt is provided for securing a brace in tension. The bolt includes a bar, a pair of explosives, a pair of detonators and a pair of anchors. The bar has opposing longitudinal ends and an outer thickness. Opposing bores extend inwardly from the longitudinal ends to corresponding depth ends. First and second notches reduce the thickness proximate to the corresponding depth ends. A center rod separates the notches from each other. Each explosive correspondingly inserts into a corresponding bore to a corresponding depth end. Each detonator correspondingly inserts into the corresponding bore. Each anchor secures the bar to the brace. In further embodiments, the longitudinal ends include helical male threads, and the anchors are nuts having helical female threads.