The Rice of Industry, Fastening the World – A Comprehensive Analysis of Core Application Fields of Fasteners
2026-03-25
As an indispensable basic mechanical component in the industrial system, fasteners are known as the "Rice of Industry". They serve as the core carrier for realizing component connection and ensuring the structural stability and functional reliability of equipment. Featuring standardization, serialization and high versatility, fasteners can be adapted to a variety of materials such as carbon steel, alloy steel, stainless steel and titanium alloy according to the mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and precision requirements of different application scenarios. Covering ten major categories of products including bolts, nuts, screws and washers, they deeply penetrate all-dimensional scenarios of modern industrial manufacturing and infrastructure construction. By 2025, the market scale of China's fastener industry has exceeded 180 billion RMB, and the proportion of high-performance fasteners in industrial applications has reached 36.7%, making it a key basic industry supporting high-end equipment manufacturing, new energy development and rail transit upgrading. The following is a professional analysis of the core application fields of fasteners:
一.Automotive Industry: The Largest Demand Side, Lightweight Drives High-value Upgrading
Automobile manufacturing is the core application field of fasteners, accounting for 28.5% of the total industrial consumption, and also the most active scene of technological iteration. From core structures such as engines, chassis and car bodies to precision components such as interior decoration and electronic control systems, fasteners all play a key connecting role. A single car needs to be equipped with more than 580 types and over 5,000 fasteners, covering a variety of products such as 8.8 and 10.9 grade high-strength bolts and precision self-tapping screws.
Under the trend of lightweight of new energy vehicles, the value of fasteners per vehicle has increased by 15%-20% compared with traditional fuel vehicles, putting forward higher requirements for the high strength, fatigue resistance and lightweight of fasteners: anti-loosening and insulating fastening solutions are required for battery pack connection, and the lightweight of car bodies has promoted the large-scale application of aluminum alloy and carbon fiber composite fasteners. At present, automotive fasteners have formed a standardized supporting system and become an indispensable core basic component in the supply chain of automobile enterprises.
二.Energy Sector: Prominent Demand for High-end Products, New Energy as a Growth Engine
The energy sector is a core position for the high-end application of fasteners, covering new energy tracks such as wind power, nuclear power and photovoltaic power, as well as traditional fields such as oil and natural gas. Among them, the wind power industry has the most typical demand for high-strength fasteners resistant to extreme working conditions. The connection of core components such as wind power towers, blades and hubs requires the use of high-strength bolts complying with the T/ZZB 0263-2017 standard, which are required to achieve a tensile strength of ≥1040MPa (10.9 grade) at -45℃~+60℃, a low-temperature impact absorption energy of ≥27J at -40℃, and pass a 720-hour salt spray test without red rust.
With the steady growth of global wind power installed capacity, the global demand for embedded screw sleeves, complete machine bolts and anchor assembly fasteners in the wind power field will reach 7.93 million pieces, 60.32 million pieces and 28,723 sets respectively in 2025. Nuclear power and photovoltaic fields require fasteners to have radiation resistance and weather resistance characteristics respectively, while the oil and natural gas field needs to adapt to the high-corrosion and high-pressure downhole working conditions, driving the continuous upgrading of special corrosion-resistant fasteners.
三.Rail Transit: High Safety Standards, Dual Core of Anti-corrosion and Anti-loosening Technology
Rail transit (railway locomotives, subways, high-speed railways) puts stringent requirements on the structural safety, anti-vibration and anti-loosening performance, and corrosion resistance of fasteners, implementing the DIN 25201 railway vehicle bolt connection standard. The strength grades of bolts are mainly 8.8 and 10.9 grades (12.9 grade is avoided as much as possible due to the risk of hydrogen embrittlement). The specifications of connecting bolts for core parts such as bogies, wheel sets and braking systems cover M12-M36, and it is required that bolts and nuts are matched with the same strength grade, the pre-tightening force is 60%-80% of the yield strength, and the safety factor is ≥1.2.
For special working conditions such as coastal areas, alpine and high-humidity areas, rail transit fasteners need to pass a salt spray test of more than 1000 hours, and anti-corrosion technologies such as zinc-nickel alloy coating and cathodic protection have become standard configurations. At the same time, multiple anti-loosening schemes such as Spiralock self-locking nuts, anaerobic adhesive bonding and steel wire series connection are adopted to prevent the decrease of pre-tightening force caused by vibration and ensure the structural stability of trains during long-term operation. This field is also one of the fastest-growing tracks in the fastener industry, with an average annual demand growth rate of 9%-11%.
四.Aerospace: Ultimate Precision Requirements, Integration of High-end Materials and Processes
Aerospace is the application field with the highest technical content of fasteners, which is directly related to the flight safety of aircraft and has ultimate industry requirements for the material performance, processing precision and reliability of fasteners. A medium-sized airliner needs to be equipped with more than 3 million fasteners with a total weight of over 3 tons, covering Inconel 718 superalloy bolts for high-temperature components of engines, titanium alloy fasteners for fuselage structures, and micro screws for precision instruments, with the processing precision of some products reaching the micron level.
Aerospace fasteners need to adapt to complex working conditions such as extreme temperatures, high loads and strong vibrations, adopting high-end processes such as cold heading forming, digital control of heat treatment and 100% non-destructive testing, and all are customized non-standard parts. At present, high-end aerospace fasteners are still the core direction of industrial technological research and development.
五.Machinery Manufacturing and Industrial Equipment: Combination of General and Special-purpose, Adapting to All Types of Equipment
Machinery manufacturing and the field of large industrial equipment such as chemical industry, electric power and mining are the traditional core application scenarios of fasteners, covering all types of equipment such as machine tools, cranes, conveyors, chemical reactors and mining machinery. Fasteners in this field are mainly general standard parts supplemented by special-purpose parts: carbon steel fasteners of 4.8 and 8.8 grades are used for ordinary mechanical connection, while corrosion-resistant materials such as 316L stainless steel are required for chemical equipment and mining machinery, and special fasteners with high strength and arc resistance are required for high-voltage components of electric power equipment.
Cold heading technology is the mainstream production method of fasteners in this field, accounting for 78.3% of the domestic market. Relying on high efficiency, high material utilization rate and high dimensional accuracy, it meets the supporting needs of large-scale manufacturing of large equipment.
六.Electronic and Electrical Industry: Miniaturization and Precision, Adapting to Intelligent Assembly
The electronic and electrical industry has prominent requirements for the miniaturization, precision and standardization of fasteners, which are widely used in the assembly of household appliances such as computers, televisions, refrigerators and washing machines, as well as consumer electronics and industrial control equipment. From more than 70 micro self-tapping screws of mobile phones to precision connecting bolts of refrigerator compressors and air conditioner external units, the size of fasteners covers micro (diameter < 3mm) to conventional specifications, and the main materials are stainless steel and copper alloy, taking into account rust prevention and electrical conductivity.
With the upgrading of intelligence and miniaturization of electronic equipment, fasteners are also developing towards the direction of thin type, anti-loosening and tool-free assembly, becoming an important part of the automation and intelligent assembly of electronic manufacturing.
七.Construction and Shipbuilding: Weather and Corrosion Resistance, Adapting to Complex Engineering Environments
Construction Industry
Accounting for 22.1% of the total industrial consumption of fasteners, it is mainly used for the connection of steel beams and columns in steel structure buildings, as well as the installation of doors, windows, curtain walls and decoration projects. Construction fasteners are mainly high-strength large-size bolts (10.9 and 12.9 grades) and expansion anchors, which are required to have the characteristics of wind load resistance, earthquake resistance and atmospheric corrosion resistance, and maintain a stable demand in major infrastructure projects such as urban renewal, water conservancy and transportation.
Shipbuilding
Fasteners have to face the marine environment with high salt spray and high humidity, with the core requirements of chloride ion corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance and high sealing. They mainly adopt corrosion-resistant materials such as 316L and 2205 duplex stainless steel, and are used for the connection of hull structures, power systems and navigation equipment. Some fasteners for deep-sea ships also need to adapt to the high-pressure and low-temperature underwater working conditions.
Instruments and Meters: High Precision Guarantee, Adapting to Precision Measurement
The instrument and meter field has strict requirements on the dimensional accuracy and assembly stability of fasteners. From laboratory precision instruments to industrial online testing equipment, fasteners need to achieve micro-gap and non-loosening connection to avoid affecting the measurement accuracy due to assembly errors. Fasteners in this field are mainly micro and high-precision screws, and some high-end products adopt special materials such as titanium alloy and ceramics, taking into account lightweight and anti-electromagnetic interference performance, which is an important scene for the refined and high-end application of fasteners.
Development Trends of the Fastener Industry: High-end, Intelligent and Green
As the "foundation of industry", the technological development of fasteners is always closely bound to the downstream high-end equipment manufacturing. The industry will focus on three core directions in the future: material innovation, focusing on the research and development of ultra-high strength steel with tensile strength ≥1800MPa, magnesium-aluminum alloy and carbon fiber composite fasteners; process upgrading, promoting the improvement of cold heading forming precision, digital heat treatment and the popularization of non-destructive testing technology; green manufacturing, reducing carbon emissions through energy-saving equipment transformation and waste recycling.
Supported by national policies such as Made in China 2025 and Industrial Foundation Strengthening Project, China's fastener industry is transforming from "scale expansion" to "quality leadership", and the import substitution of high-end fasteners is accelerating. It is expected that the market scale will exceed 250 billion RMB by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 6.8%.
