Technical Notes

BOLTS
The purpose of this Technical Note is to provide some information about bolts, nuts and washers, mostly
used in machinery and metallic structures, helping reader on their identification of types, qualities and
normalized tightening torques.

Types of bolts, nuts and washers

The sizes, shapes and technical characteristics of the bolts, nuts and washers are normalized into
Standards as ISO, DIN, etc. The thread system more internationally used is the metric thread (ISO metric
thread). There are also other common threads as Withworth, UNC (Unified National Coarse) and UNF
(Unified National Fine), etc.

In the following tables, you will find the most popular threads for fastening metallic parts:

BOLTS
DIN-931 DIN-933 DIN-912

Hexagon Head Bolt, partial thread Hexagon Head Bolt, full thread
Hexagon Socked Head Cap Bolt
DIN-7991 DIN-913

Hexagon Socket Set Bolt, flat point

Hexagon Socked Countersunk Head
Bolt

NUTS
DIN-934 DIN-936

Hexagon Nut Hexagon Thin Nut

DIN-982 DIN-985

Prevailing Torque Type Hexagon Nut with

Prevailing Torque Type Hexagon Nut with non-metallic insert, high type
non-metallic insert, high type

WASHERS
DIN-125 DIN-127

Spring Lock Washer

Plain Washer
DIN-6798 DIN-9021 DIN-2093
20/07/2016 - En_NT_Bolts_Utilcell
1/3
 Arandela de muelle
Serrated Lock Washer Plain Washer with high Arandela Plana
de ala ancha

Property Class and Metric Description of Bolts

The Standard EN ISO 898-1 establish codes for Property Classes of Metric Bolts: 4.6, 5.6, 5.8, 6.8, 8.8, 10.9
y 12.9, according different tensile strength and yield strength of each bolt type.

Property Class: 4.6 5.6 5.8 6.8 8.8 10.9 12.9

Tensile Strength 400 500 500 600 800 1000 1200
Rm
[N/mm²]
Yield Strength Re 240 300 400 480 640 900 1080
[N/mm²]

The number that appears before the decimal, when multiplied by 100, will provide the approximate
minimum tensile strength of the bolt.

The number that appears after the decimal, when multiplied by 10, will provide the approximate yield
strength percentage in relation to the minimum tensile strength.

Example:
Hex Cap Screw DIN 931 M12x80 10.9
It indicates a Hexagon Head Screw, partial thread, DIN 931, metric 12, length 80 mm. Property class 10.9
indicates the 10 in 10.9 multiplied by 100 indicates that this bolt has an approximate minimum tensile
strength of 1,000 MPa (Mega Pascal). The 9 after the decimal indicates that the yield strength of the bolt
is approximately 90% of the first number: 1,000 MPa. Thus, the 10.9 bolt has an approximate yield
strength of 900 Mpa.

Bolt Tightening Torque

Torque is the force applied at the transversally end of a lever arm. The bolt tightening torque is the torque
applied to the bolt by using a wrench tool.

The unit of torque in the International Metric System of Units is the Newton x meter (N·m ).

Torque (N·m) = Force (Newton) x length (meter)

Conversion Table:

Newton x meter to Kilogram-force x meter: 1 N·m = 0,102 Kgf·m

Newton x meter to Pounds-force x foot: 1 N·m = 0,738 lbf·ft
Newton x meter to Pounds-force x inch: 1 N·m = 8,851 lbf·in

En_NT_Bolts_Utilcell
2/3
The tool used for measuring the torque applied to the bolts is a Dynamometric Torque Wrench.

The bolt tightening torques are standardized and they are calculated at the 85% of the yield strength of
the bolt. They have different values depending on bolt property classes, bolt sizes, surface finishing and
the friction or grease conditions.

Standardized Tightening Torque is given for having a correct preload of the assembly for:

 Avoiding a poor pre-load of the assembly to prevent the loosening the screw.
 Avoiding an excess of pre-load to prevent deformation of parts or the risk breakage of the bolts.

In the following table you will find values of the Bolt Tightening Torque M (N·m) for the main commercial
steel property classes and bolt dimensions.

Wrench Class Class Class Class

Pitch Hex 6.8 8.8 10.9 12.9
Tightening Tightening Tightening Tightening
DIN ISO Torque Torque Torque Torque
272 Mm mm M [N·m] M [N·m] M [N·m] M [N·m]
M3 0,5 5,5 1,1 1,3 1,8 2,2
M4 0,7 7 2,6 3 4,3 5,1
M5 0,8 8 5,1 6 8 10
M6 1 10 8 10 15 18
M8 1,25 13 22 26 35 42
M10 1,5 16 42 50 71 85
M12 1,75 18 74 87 123 147
M14 2 21 117 138 194 235
M16 2 24 179 211 299 358
M18 2,5 27 246 289 412 490
M20 2,5 30 384 412 579 696
M22 2,5 34 471 559 785 941
M24 3 36 598 711 1000 1196
M30 2,5 46 1206 1422 2010 2403
M33 3,5 50 1628 1932 2716 3266
M36 4 55 2099 2481 3491 4197
M39 4 60 2716 3226 4531 5443
M42 4,5 65 3364 3991 5609 6727
Note: Above values are guideline values, for friction coefficients of µ= 0,15 with new threads without grease. The finishing of the
thread can affect these values.

For screwing in aluminum and cast, the Tightening Torque should be reduced.
For Stainless Steel Bolts and Nuts use, as a reference, the Tightening Torque of the same steel bolt
dimension for Class 8.8.

From Utilcell we hope this technical note can be of your help, it should be used only as a guideline and
not serve as a contractual product specification or for any liability. We reserve the right to change the
content of this technical note at any time without previous notice. Remaining at your disposal for any
further information.

En_NT_Bolts_Utilcell
3/3