THE ROLE OF THE BOLT

AND THE DESIGN

CHALLENGE

Refer to Chapter 1 of the text

 Role of the Bolt
 Creates a clamping force between 2 or more
things.
 In Tension Joints:
 Bolt is mechanism for creating and maintaining the
clamping force.
 Behavior and life of the joint depends on the
magnitude and stability of the clamping force
 In Shear Joints:
 Bolts resist slip by acting as shear pins.
 Clamping load created and maintained by the bolts
provides friction force that resists slip.
 Joint Members Behave Like
Stiff Springs
 Bolts and joint
members deform
elastically when bolts
are tightened.
 Stored energy allows
bolts to maintain
clamping force.
 About 10% of
Assembly Energy goes
to clamping force.
 The Bolted Joint Challenge

 Jointis “alive” and ever changing in

response to service conditions and
environment.
 There are hundreds of variables to
deal with that are difficult to control or
predict.
 There is a lot of uncertainty in the:
 Assembly process
 In-service behavior
 Assembly Goals
 Establish adequate but not excessive initial
clamping force.
 Clamping load must be:
 Sufficient to prevent separation, leaks,
fatigue, loosening and other failures.
 Sufficient to accommodate inevitable
relaxation.
 Small enough to avoid break or yield or
excessive relaxation of bolts given the
environment of the joint.
 It is Difficult to Predict
 The initial clamping force:
Lost bolt tightening energy goes to heat,
thread embedment, nut dilation, excessive
friction and yield or deformation of joint
members.
 The final clamping force:
Affected by relaxation of joint members,
gaskets, by elastic interaction with
neighbor bolts.
 The In-Service, or Operating Load
 In-Service Behavior
 Tension Joints respond to vibration,
temperature change, mechanical or pressure
loads.
 Almost always the response is to decrease
the clamping force and increase the bolt
load.
 Most bolted joints provide less clamping
force than we think.
 Clamping force and load capacity of Shear
Joints are unaffected by many of the factors
that reduce the capacity of a tension joint.
 Failure Modes
 Self-loosening:
 Shear and Tension joints can self-loosen
(shake apart or break) because of inadequate
clamping force.

 Broken Bolts:
 From fatigue, stress cracking, corrosion,
wrong materials.

 Separation (loss of bolt tension):

 Destroysjoint integrity, rapid fatigue failure
 Gasketed joint leaks.
 Design Goals
 Specific goals and configurations related to
type of industry. (e.g. Structural Vs. Process)
 Designer picks sizes, shapes and materials
that assure sufficient clamping force to avoid
failure considering the uncertainties.
 Designer selects bolts that support the
maximum assembly load plus any stress
increase from service conditions and
differential thermal expansion.
STRESS AND STRENGTH
CONSIDERATIONS

Refer to Chapter 2 of the text

Many Types of Bolt
Strength Chapter(3rd ed)
 Tensile 3 (2)
 Thread-Stripping 4 (3)
 Shear 12 (14)
 Brittle Fracture 2 (4)
 High and Low Temperature 2 (4)
 Fatigue 15 (17)
 Stress Corrosion Cracking 16 (18)
 Tensile Strength
Elastic Curve for a ductile bolt such as ASTM A325
(Figure 2.1)

 Elastic region
 Plastic region
 Proportional limit
 Elastic limit
 Yield point
 Yield strength
(0.2 to 0.5%
strain)
 Ultimate strength
 Rupture
 Tensile Strength
Elastic Curve for a less ductile, stronger bolt Figure 3.2(2.2)

 Elastic region
 Plastic region
 Proportional limit
 Elastic limit
 Yield point
 Yield strength
(0.2 to 0.5%
strain)
 Ultimate strength
 Rupture
 Repeated Loading
Elastic Curves for bolt loaded repeatedly well into plastic
region Figure 3.2(2.2)

 Elastic region
(Follow Path A)
 Plastic region
 Ultimate strength
 Rupture
 Work Hardening
(strain hardening)
 Permanent set
 Higher yield
 Shakedown
Follow Path C
 Stress Distribution
Lines of principal tension & compression Figure 3.3.(2.3)

 Pure Tensile load

 “Pure” geometry
 Compressive
stresses exist
 Stress
concentrations
exist
 Tensile Stress Distribution
Simple view of tensile stress in bolt - Figure 3.4(2.4)

 Tensile load
 Stress based on
nominal cross-
sectional stress
areas
 Tensile Stress Distribution
More accurate view of tensile stress in bolt - Figure 3.5(2.5)

 Tensile load
 Stress from
FEA results
 Peak stress
at C and D
 Uniform in
shank
 Tensile Stress Distribution
View of tensile stress in “stubby” bolt - Figure 3.6(2.6)

 Tensile load
 Stress from FEA
results
 Peak stress at C
and D
 Shank stress
NOT Uniform
 Stubby bolts are
very common
( L:D = 4:1)
 Tensile Stress Distribution
Lines of equal axial tension in bolt - (Figure 2.7 3rd Ed only)

 Tensile load

 Stress from FEA

results

 100 ksi nominal

stress
 Tensile Stress Distribution
Peak stress in nut or bolt Vs threads - Figure 3.7(2.8)

 Highest stress
always on 1st
thread
 More threads (or
finer) helps
some
 Small pitch
mismatch has
major effect
 Special Designs Smooth Stress
Distribution
Tension loaded nuts more uniformly stressed Figure 3.8 (2.9)
 Strengths of a Bolt
Common references

 Proof - point just before

any permanent
deformation
 Yield strength
(0.2 to 0.5% strain)

 Ultimate strength
Maximum without
rupture
 Proof < Yield < Ultimate
 Tensile Stress Areas
 Usedto Evaluate Proof, Tensile or Yield
strength of bolts, or to
 Calculatenominal tensile stress in a
threaded fastener for a particular load
 Calculate load associated with an applied
stress.
 Calculateload or stress associated with a
given strain or “stretch”
 Tensile Stress Area, As, in2
Formulas use threads per inch, n = TPI
Most popular is with nominal diameter (D)

More Conservative is with Minimum pitch diameter

Root, Pitch and Nominal Bolt Diameters
D and ESmin for 60o thread - Figure 3.11 (2.12)

ESmin
 Tensile Area Difference
Equations 2.1 and 2.2 differ by about 5% for a
1/4 - 20 UNC Class 2A thread (normal)
 Root Stress Area, Ar, in2
Most conservative stress area
For a 1 - 8 UNC 2A, As = 0.606, Ar= 0.551 in2

Used for ASME Pressure Vessels and other

conservative Codes

For metric bolts:

Ar = 0.7854(D- 1.2269p)2
Metric Tensile Area, As, mm2

Formula uses thread pitch (p) instead of TPI

 Static Strength of a Bolt
 Bolt
Strength determines available
clamping force. Proof load is maximum
useable
 The bolt will break in one of four ways:
 Bolt body breaks at a stress concentration
 Bolt threads strip (threads shear)
 Nut threads could strip (unlikely)
 Bolt and nut threads strip at the same time
 General Static Strength
Example pg 53 (34)
Find the force, F that will yield the bolt

Eq 3.7

(Inconel Material)
 Static Strength Example
Yield strength for a 1/4 - 20 UNC Class 2A Inconel 600 Bolt:
Ambient yield stress from Table on Pg 19 (or Table 4.1- 3rd ed)
Previously:
 = 37 ksi; As = 0.0138 in2 - See example for Eq 3.1 (2.1)
F = 37 x 0.0138 = 1177 lb

What is the strength at 1200 F? Use yield strength for same

Inconel 600 Bolt:
( Hot yield stress,  is taken as 17 ksi)
 = 17 ksi;
F = 17 x 0.0138 = 541 lb
 Contact Strength
Lines of equal compressive stress
Non- uniform, “conical” distribution

“Slightly” more than

yield under nut is
generally OK.
Washers help avoid
embedment and stress
distribution.
Thicker, harder washers
are better.
 Stress Distribution in Joint
Lines of equal compressive stress
Non- uniform, “conical” distribution

“Stress variation of
8:1 is typical.
Bolt to bolt
variation depends on
spacing
 Shear Failure of the Joint
pg 57 (41)
Typical Static failure
Modes:
 Tear out
 net Section
 Zig-Zag

 Mode depends on
relative strength of
bolts vs cross-section
strength
 Shear Strength of Bolts
F = Su x (nAb + mAs),
Ab and As are body and thread cross-sectional areas in
respective shear planes.
 Combined Loads on a Bolt
What are the possible cL
loads on this bolt?
 Tension

 Bending

 Torque

 Shear?
 Combined Loads Reduce Strength
Bolt tightened with torque wrench (A) is somewhat weaker than
a bolt loaded in pure tension (B). Torque component tends to
disappear in- service, effectively strengthening the bolt.