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  1. Böllhoff US
  2. Industry solutions
  3. Data center fastening solutions

DATA CENTER FASTENING SOLUTIONS

Build Data Center Infrastructure Faster — Without Welding, Rework, or Downtime

From server racks and enclosures to containment and cable pathways and cooling or whitespace construction, Böllhoff fastening systems join thin-gauge and coated sheet metal in seconds — with the strength to survive decades of service cycles.

WHY BÖLLHOFF

145+ Years of Joining Expertise. One Partner for Fastening, Tooling, and Engineering Support.

Böllhoff has been solving fastening challenges since 1877. RIVNUT® — the original blind rivet nut, invented for aircraft in 1936 — has been part of the Böllhoff Group since 2000 and is manufactured in the US in Kendallville, Indiana. Today, as a family-owned group with 44 locations in 26 countries and an in-house test laboratory accredited to DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025, we support the engineers and OEMs building the world's digital infrastructure. We don't just ship fasteners: we help you select, test, tool, and automate the right joining method for your application.

Deployment Timelines Don't Wait for Welding

Every week of rack and enclosure production matters when capacity is pre-sold. Böllhoff joining technologies are built for takt time: RIVCLINCH® clinching creates a finished joint in under one second with no consumables, and RIVNUT® blind rivet nuts install in seconds from one side — no welding, no tapping, no back-side access required. Both are simple to train, easy to automate, and deliver repeatable results across thousands of joints, so your assembly line scales as fast as your customers' compute demand.

Supporting proof points

  • Clinch joints set in <1 second
  • Up to 32 RIVNUT® settings per minute with battery tooling
  • No skilled welding labor required

No Heat. No Sparks. No Damaged Coatings.

Welding warps thin sheet, burns off protective coatings, and has no place near sensitive electronics. Böllhoff joins without heat: RIVCLINCH® cold-forms pre-painted and coated steel, stainless, and aluminum without damaging the surface — with no consumables, no cooling installation, and a fraction of the energy welding demands. ONSERT® bonds threaded studs, standoffs, and cable-management fasteners directly to finished surfaces with a light-curing adhesive — no drilling, no holes, no rework, full load capacity in seconds. Your corrosion protection, airflow design, and clean-room-adjacent environments stay intact.

Threads That Survive Decades of Upgrades

Data center hardware is never installed once. Racks are re-configured, panels removed, equipment refreshed on 3–5 year cycles — all under constant vibration from fans, pumps, and power equipment. RIVNUT® blind rivet nuts put a reusable, load-bearing machine thread into sheet metal as thin as your lightest panel, developed to meet the mechanical requirements of strength class 8.8 (with HRT versions compatible with class 12.9 bolts). RIVNUT® Seal Ring versions provide a tight seal against fluids and gases (per ISO 20653, specification IPX7). Where components must align perfectly across large assemblies — containment panels, doors, façade elements — FLEXITOL® compensates manufacturing tolerances automatically and eliminates warping at assembly.

GET STARTED

Put Böllhoff Fasteners to the Test

Tell us about your rack, enclosure, cabinet, cooling or whitespace construction application. Our engineers will recommend the right joining method, send free evaluation samples, and back it up with data from our accredited test laboratory.

Request Samples & Application Review

Five Joining Technologies. One Selection Framework.

There's no single right fastener for a data center build. There's a right fastener for each joint. Use this framework as a starting point, then validate with our engineering team:

  • RIVSET®

    RIVSET®

    RIVSET®RIVSET® HDZ rivet connection – cross section

    What it does

    • Self-pierce riveting; joins dissimilar multi-layer materials with no pre-drilling

    Best for in data centers

    • High-strength steel-to-aluminum structural sheet assemblies, high-volume automated assembly
    More about RIVSET®
  • RIVNUT®

    RIVNUT®

    RIVKLE®Standard blind rivet nut

    What it does

    • Blind-installed, load-bearing threads in thin sheet (steel, stainless, aluminum)

    Best for in data centers

    • Rack rails, cabinet frames, mounting points, serviceable panels
    More about RIVNUT®
  • FLEXITOL®

    FLEXITOL®

    FLEXITOL®Hybrid tolerance compensation systems

    What it does

    • Automatic tolerance compensation between components

    Best for in data centers

    • Doors, panels, containment systems, large modular assemblies
    More about FLEXITOL®
  • ONSERT®

    ONSERT®

    ONSERT®Bonding process – Fast, reliable joining of fasteners using light-curing adhesives

    What it does

    • Light-cure adhesive-bonded fasteners — no holes, no heat

    Best for in data centers

    • Cable management, sensors, standoffs on finished/coated/composite surfaces
    More about ONSERT®
  • RIVCLINCH®

    RIVCLINCH®

    RIVCLINCH®Joining equipment and systems for sheets and profiles without joining elements

    What it does

    • Fastener-free cold-formed joints in coated/dissimilar sheet metal

    Best for in data centers

    • Enclosure bodies, panels, cable tray, containment, HVAC/air ducting
    More about RIVCLINCH®

RIVNUT® Blind Rivet Nuts

Strong, Reusable Threads — Installed From One Side, In Seconds

When you can't access the back of a rack rail or cabinet wall, RIVNUT® installs a resilient machine thread blind. Available in steel, stainless steel, and aluminum with a wide range of head styles, sealed and high-strength (HRT) versions — installed with everything from hand tools to fully automated feed systems.

Find our more about RIVNUT® blind rivet nuts
RIVKLE® HRT blind rivet nuts with high-strength threads
RIVKLE® HRTBlind rivet nuts with high-strength threads

RIVCLINCH® Clinching

Join Sheet Metal With Nothing But the Sheet Metal

RIVCLINCH® cold-forms a permanent, form-fitting interlock between two or more metal layers — no rivets, screws, adhesives, or heat. It joins coated and pre-painted steel, stainless, and aluminum (including dissimilar combinations) without damaging the surface, with joint quality verifiable by simple visual/dimensional inspection — no destructive testing.

Find out more about RIVCLINCH® clinching
RIVCLINCH® 0404 IP – Portable pneumatic clinching machine
RIVCLINCH® 0404 IPPortable pneumatic clinching machine

ONSERT® Adhesive-Bonded Fasteners

Fasten to Finished Surfaces Without Drilling a Single Hole

ONSERT® bonds threaded studs, bushes, and snap connectors to steel, aluminum, glass, plastics, and composites using a transparent fastener base and light-curing adhesive. Full mechanical load immediately after curing — ideal for adding cable routing, sensors, and mounting points to panels you can't (or won't) penetrate.

Find out more about ONSERT® adhesive bonding
ONSERT® bonding process – Fast, reliable joining of fasteners using light-curing adhesives
ONSERT®Bonding process – Fast, reliable joining of fasteners using light-curing adhesives

RIVSET® Self-Pierce Riveting

High-Strength Multi-Material Joints. No Pre-Drilling.

RIVSET® pierces and joins multiple layers of similar or dissimilar materials — including high-strength steel to aluminum — in one automated stroke. Highly reproducible, dynamically strong, and proven in the world's most demanding high-volume manufacturing environments.

Find out more about RIVSET® self-pierce riveting
RIVSET® elements and self-pierce riveting system RIVSET® Automation EH
RIVSET®Elements and self-pierce riveting system RIVSET® Automation EH

FLEXITOL® Tolerance Compensation

Zero-Gap Assembly, Even When Parts Aren't Perfect

FLEXITOL® automatically compensates axial and radial tolerances as components are bolted together — preventing warping, eliminating shimming, and speeding assembly of doors, panels, and modular structures. Available in metal, hybrid, and plastic systems.

Find out more about FLEXITOL® tolerance compensations systems
Tolerance compensation systems – FLEXITOL® Hybrid
FLEXITOL®Hybrid tolerance compensation systems

PROVEN IN THE FIELD

Trusted by the Teams Building Mission-Critical Infrastructure

From automotive giants to aerospace OEMs, manufacturers rely on Böllhoff when joints can't fail and production can't slow down. See how engineering teams put our fastening systems to work.

LUFT-WENT – replacing resistance welding with RIVCLINCH®