When your washing machine breaks, how do you know whether to roll up your sleeves, work the phones to find a repair technician, or give in and swipe your Visa at the nearest appliance dealer? It’s a ...

We have all done it, overtightened a bolt and blown out the threads. When a bolt starts to tighten up and then go suddenly loose, you know that the threads are toast and now you have a problem.

Plastic parts and assemblies are becoming more common as engineers work to reduce costs and weight in their designs. But plastics often aren’t strong enough to support fasteners such as screws or ...