Annular Ring / Helical / Plain
Annular ring, helical and plain nails represent some 99% of the volume of fasteners used in wood packaging and pallets in the Western world. The annular ring nail dominates in Europe and the helical nail in North America. The plain nail is well used in the packing case trade and where clinching is necessary in the pallet industry such as board to stringer. A minimum bending strength is necessary if nails are to avoid crippling (bending under axial load) when being driven into difficult timber. This can happen whether being applied by nailing machine, pneumatic tool, or by hand. Crippling always occurs at the weakest position in the nail and is a particular problem with annular ring nails, low grade steel, long nails and dense woods.
Ring nails after testing by MIBANT (top)
and ISO static bending method (bottom)
A minimum bending strength is also necessary if a high performance is expected of wood packaging and pallets, or a manufacturer is building to a design which defines nail bending strength. Suppliers or manufacturers can test for this, the methods produce results quickly.
The MIBANT impact hammer-drop test method was developed in the USA to measure bending strength of helical or twisted nails and many years later an ISO standard was developed defining a static test method. The MIBANT tests strength in the upper part of the nail and the ISO static method near the point. The ISO static method offers a better system for use with annular nails which are far weaker nearer their point where the ring root diameter reduces the effective diameter resisting crippling. This is not the case with helical or twist nails which have a more consistent strength top to bottom. The ring nails in the illustration have been tested by the MIBANT method (top) and ISO static bending method (bottom). There are also other non-standard test methods such as those developed for the Europallet to test nails when made up into complete pallet joints.
The helical nail is less likely to cripple in dense woods than the annular ring so has long been used in North America where hardwoods and denser softwoods are common. The annular ring nail has a greater resistance to pull-out when fully driven in and for this r
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42c Metal corrosion inside wooden containers - acid woods (PDF 115kb)42d Degradation of wood by corroding metal. (PDF 11kb)52b Block pallets - safe nail loads. (PDF 129kb)52c nail loads (PDF 20kb)52d Nail assessment for pallet or box manufacture. (PDF 50kb)52f Wood Fastenings Defined by USA Term - Penny Nails. (PDF 118kb)52g Pallet and Case nails - plain and ring - number per kilogram. (PDF 37kb)52i Effects on joint strength of deep rings in annular nails. (PDF 31kb)52k Relationship between nail diameter and withdrawal resistance. (PDF 70kb)53c CE Marking may be found on steel nails. (PDF 146kb)56n Pallet payload damage from protruding nails. (PDF 31kb)