http://www.boltscience.com/pages/basics3.

htm

Tutorial on the Basics of Bolted Joints

Why Bolt Preload is Important

Over the last fifty years great improvements have been made by the fastener industry
in improving the design and reliability of their products. However, no matter how well
designed and made the fastener itself is, it cannot alone make the joint more reliable.
Fastener selection based upon an understanding of the mechanics of how a threaded
fastener sustains loading and the influence that tightening procedures can play is also
needed. This article provides an introduction to the
basics of bolted joints and the major factors involved in
the design of such joints.

It is not widely understood how a bolted joint carries a

direct load. A fully tightened bolt can survive in an
application that an untightened, or loose bolt, would fail
in a matter of seconds. When a load is applied to a
joint containing a tightened bolt it does not sustain the
full effect of the load but usually only a small part of it.
This seems, at first sight, to be somewhat contrary to
common sense. Figure 1A shows a bolt and nut
securing a bracket to a support plate.

With the nut loose on the bolt, if a weight of 1 unit is

added to the bracket, as shown in Figure 1B, then the force in the bolt shank will
increase by 1. However, if the nut is now tightened and the weight applied, the force in
the bolt shank will not increase by 1 but usually by only a small fraction of this amount.
An understanding of why the bolt does not sustain the full effect of the applied load is
fundamental to the subject.

A model can often be of help in understanding why

the bolt does not sustain the full effect of the applied
load. Figure 2 is an attempt to illustrate the load
transfer mechanism involved in a bolted joint by the
use of a special fastener. In the case of this fastener
no significant load increase would be sustained by
the fastener until the applied load exceeded the
fastener's preload. (Preload is the term used for a
bolt's clamp force.)

Applying an External Force to a Bolted Joint

A model can often be of help in understanding why

the bolt does not sustain the full effect of the applied
load. Figure 2 is an attempt to illustrate the load transfer mechanism involved in a
bolted joint by the use of a special fastener. In the case of this fastener no significant
load increase would be sustained by the fastener until the applied load exceeded the
fastener's preload. (Preload is the term used for a bolt's clamp force.)

1
With the special fastener shown, the bolt is
free to move within its casing, a
compression spring is included within the
casing so that if the bolt is pulled down the
spring will compress. A scale on the side of
the casing indicates the force present in the
spring and hence the force present in the
shank of the bolt. Figure 2A illustrates this
special fastener in its untightened condition.

The bolt is now inserted through a hole in a

support plate and a bracket attached to the
special fastener by securing a nut to the threaded shank. If the nut is now rotated so
that the head of the bolt is pulled down, the spring will be compressed. If the nut is
rotated so that 2 force units are indicated on the casing, the compressive force acting
on the spring will be 2 and the tensile force in the bolt shank will also be 2. This is
illustrated in Figure 2B; this is like a tightened bolt without any working load applied.

If a weight is now added to the bracket (Figure

2c) of value 1, then the initial reaction is to
think that the load in the bolt must increase,
otherwise what happens to the additional
force? Surprisingly it will keep at its existing
value of 2 - it will not 'feel' any of the additional
force.

To visualize why this is so - imagine what

would happen if the load in the bolt did
increase. To do this it would compress the
spring more and a gap would be made
between the bracket and the plate. If such a
gap was to form then it would mean that there
would be 2 units of force acting upwards - due
to the spring, and 1 unit of force acting
downwards from the applied weight. Clearly
this force imbalance would not occur.

What does happen is that the effect of the applied load is

to decrease the clamp force that exists between the plate
and the bracket. With no load applied the clamp force is 2
units, with the load applied this decreases to 1 unit of
force. The bolt would not actually 'feel' any of the applied
force until it exceeded the bolts clamp force.

Older design procedures proposed calculation methods

based upon the idea that the bolt will not 'feel' any of the
applied load until it exceeds the bolts clamp force. That is,
the bolt should be sized so that its clamp force is equal to
the external load after a factor of safety has been
included. With the special fastener used in this example
the stiffness of the fastener is far smaller than the stiffness

2
of the plate and bracket it clamps. Practical fasteners differ from that shown in Figure 2
in that elongation of the fastener and compression of the clamped parts occurs upon
tightening. This compression results in the bolt sustaining a proportion of the applied
load. As the applied force reduces the clamp force existing within the joint an additional
strain is felt by the bolt which increases the force it sustains. The amount of the
additional force the bolt sustains is smaller than the applied force to the joint. The
actual amount of force the bolt sustains depends upon the ratio of stiffnesses of the
bolt to the joint material.

The best way to understand and visualize how the force sustained by the bolt depends
upon the joint stiffness is by the use of joint diagrams. These are the subject of the next
page in this basics of bolted joints tutorial.

What is a Joint Diagram?

To help visualize the

loading within bolted
connections, joint
diagrams have been
developed. A joint
diagram is a means of
displaying the load
deflection
characteristics of the
bolt and the material
that it clamps. Joint
diagrams can be used
to assist in visualizing how a bolted joint sustains an external force and why the bolt
does not sustain the whole of this force.

The diagram shown above presents the way that the basic joint diagram is constructed.
As a nut is rotated on a bolt's screw thread against a joint, the bolt is extended.
Because internal forces within the bolt resists this extension, a tension force or bolt
preload is generated. The reaction to this force is a clamp force that is the cause of the
joint being compressed. The force-extension diagram presented above shows the bolt
extension and the joint compression. The slope of the lines represents the stiffness of
each part. The clamped joint usually being stiffer than the bolt.

The basic joint

diagram is formed
by moving the
compression line of
the joint to the
right. A triangle is
formed because
the clamped force
tending to compress the joint is equal to the bolt preload. Positive extension is to the
right such as that sustained by the bolt, negative extension (compression) is to the left
and is sustained by the joint material.

3
Joint Diagrams with External Forces Applied

When an external tensile

force is applied to the joint it
has the effect of reducing
some of the clamp force
caused by the bolt's preload
and applying an additional
force to the bolt itself.

This is illustrated in the joint

diagram shown above. The external force acts through the joint material and then
subsequently into the bolt. At first sight it may seem a bit strange to place the applied
force in the position shown in the diagram. However, it should be realized that the load
on the bolt cannot be added without decreasing the clamp force acting on the joint. As
can be observed from a study of the diagram, the actual amount of increase in the bolt
force is dependent upon the relative stiffness of the bolt to the joint.

As an illustration of the
importance of the
relative stiffness of the
bolt to the joint,
presented above is a
joint diagram for a
'hard' joint (a low
stiffness bolt with a
high stiffness joint). In this case, because of the steep stiffness slope of the joint, the
bolt will only sustain a small proportion of the applied force.

With a 'soft' joint (a high stiffness bolt with a low stiffness joint), because the stiffness
slope of the bolt is greater than that of the joint, the bolt would sustain the majority of
the applied force. Study of these diagrams provides understanding of why high
performance bolts have shanks that have been reduced to a diameter below that of the
outside diameter of a thread. By reducing the shank diameter in this manner the
stiffness of the fastener is reduced so that it will not sustain as much of any applied
force that it would otherwise do.

If the shank diameter is not

reduced to a diameter below that of
the stress diameter (see stress
area in the glossary) then the
strength of the fastener will not
normally be impaired.

STRESS AREA
The effective cross sectional area of a thread when subjected to a tensile force. It is based upon a
diameter which is the mean of the pitch (or effective) and the minor (or root) diameters of the thread. The
use of this diameter stems from the work of E. M. Slaughter in the 1930's. He completed carefully
4
controlled tests using various sizes of standard threads and compared their strength with machined bars
made from the same bar of material. He found that this mean diameter gave results that agreed with the
tensile test results to within about 3%. The error on the minor and pitch diameters was about 15%. Tests
completed subsequent to these by other investigators have also shown that the stress diameter is a
reasonable approximation to a thread's tensile strength. (Reference: 'Tests on Thread Sections Show
Exact Strengthening Effect of Threads.' by E. M. Slaughter, Metal Progress, vol. 23, March 1933 pp. 18-
20)

The Effect of a Large Applied External Force

As the external force is increased the force acting on the bolt is proportionally
increased. At the same time the clamp force acting on the joint is decreased. If the
external force continues to increase then either:

1) The proportion of the

external force acting on the
bolt together with the bolt's
preload, results in the yield
of the bolt material being
exceeded with the imminent
likelihood of bolt failure.
Even if failure does not
immediately occur when the
external force is removed, the preload will be reduced. The joint diagram showing an
external force causing the bolt to yield is illustrated below.

2) The clamp force acting on the joint will continue to decrease until it becomes zero.
Any further increase in the applied force will result in a gap forming between the plates
comprising the joint and the bolt sustaining all of the additional force. This is illustrated
in the joint diagram below.

If a gap does form between

the plates comprising the
joint then the bolt or bolts
are almost always subjected
to non-linear loadings from
bending and shear forces
acting. This usually quickly
leads to bolt failure. Hence it
is normal to set a design
criteria that the applied
forces must not under any
circumstances result in a
gap forming within the joint.

5
The Effect of a Compressive External Force

If the joint experiences a

compressive external force
this has the effect of
increasing the clamp force
acting on the joint and
decreasing the tension in
the bolt. This is illustrated
with the joint diagram
shown below. If the
compressive external force
is great enough then either:

1. The tension in the bolt can be reduced to a low value - if the external load is cyclic
then the bolt could fail due to fatigue (since it is experiencing tension variations under a
compressive external force). Also the bolt is more susceptible to vibrational loosening.

2. The yield limitations of the clamped material may be exceeded since the joint is
sustaining a compressive force in addition to that provided by the bolt's preload. This
will result in some permanent deformation that upon the release of the external force a
loss of bolt preload would result.

The Effect of Joint Deformation loss due to Embedding

A joint diagram showing the effect of embedding is presented below.

When a bolt is tightened,

very high local pressures can
exist in the contact areas on
the threads and under the
nut/bolt. Local plastic
deformation can occur at
these interfaces by flattening
of surface roughness.

This plastic deformation has

the effect of reducing a bolt's
preload. Research has been
completed to establish guide values for the amount of embedding that typically occurs
within joints. The amount of embedding determined is a loss of joint deformation. This
can be converted into force by calculation or with the aid of a joint diagram.

Bolt Preload Variation due to the Tightening Method

6
The effect that the method of
tightening has on determining
what size of bolt is required to
fulfill a specific function is
largely underestimated. If
several bolts of the same size
are tightened by the same
method then there will be
variation in the bolt's preload
- they won't have all the same
value.

This variation is influenced by

such factors as variation in
friction characteristics in the thread and under the nut face, thread form and pitch
variations, variations in the surface flatness etc. Hence for any particular tightening
method there will be a maximum anticipated preload and a minimum given a set of
conditions.

The tightening factor is a measure of the scatter in a bolt's clamp force as a result of
the tightening method used to tighten the fastener. It is defined as the maximum bolt
clamp force divided by the minimum value anticipated for that tightening method. For
tightening with a torque wrench the tightening factor is usually taken as 1.6; i.e. the
maximum preload value is 1.6 times the minimum.

A joint diagram showing the effect of preload variation and embedding is presented
below.

Since the bolt is not to be broken by

over-tightening on assembly, it must be
selected for the maximum initial preload.
Hence for a given bolt size, the smaller
the tightening factor, the larger the
residual preload is remaining to sustain
the applied forces to the joint.

Preload Requirement Charts

Joint diagrams can display a significant

amount of information about the joint but
in our experience many people find them
difficult to interpret and understand.
Preload Requirement Charts are a way
to graphically display the results of a
joint analysis in a clear and understandable manner.

By way of example, consider the joint shown below that is subject to combined axial
and shear loading. For information, the bolt is M12 property class 10.9, the joint
thickness is 20 mm with an axial load of 15 kN and a shear force of 4 kN being applied.

7
(If the joint consists of several bolts, it is first necessary to determine the loading on an
individual bolt.)

One key aspect to appreciate is that the root cause of the majority of bolt/joint failures
is due to insufficient preload. It is unusual for the bolt to be overloaded. If the preload
provided by the bolt is insufficient, joint separation and movement can occur resulting
in possible bolt fatigue and self-loosening issues. In order that such problems do not
occur it is vital that there is sufficient residual clamp force acting on the joint interface
after accounting for the effects of the applied forces and embedding losses. A Preload
Requirement Chart graphically illustrates this point as it looks at the forces acting on
the joint interface. Such a chart is shown below for the above joint.

The above chart was produced by the BOLTCALC program, but such charts can be
produced manually. Explaining each of the parts of the chart in turn:

Embedding Loss: Embedding is localized plastic deformation that occurs under the nut
face, in the joint faces and in the threads as a result of flattening of the surface
roughness. Embedding results in a loss of clamp force acting on the joint. If the joint
and bolt stiffness can be established, the amount of this force loss can be quantified if
the surface roughness of the contact surfaces is defined. In the above chart, a loss of
10 kN is anticipated. Large amounts of embedding loss can occur in joints with a short
grip length consisting of many interfaces.

Axial Force Requirement: In a preloaded joint, the majority of the applied axial load
reduces the clamp force on the joint interface rather than increasing the load in the bolt
(see an earlier tutorial for an explanation). The amount of the axial load that unloads

8
the joint interface can be determined from the joint/bolt stiffness calculations. In this
example, of the 15 kN applied force, 13.8 kN reduces the clamp force on the interface
(the remaining 1.2 kN increases the load in the bolt). To simplify, when hand
calculations are being completed, the conservative assumption is often applied that all
the applied axial load reduces the clamp force on the joint interface.

Shear Force Requirement: The majority of joints in mechanical engineering use

clearance holes and any shear load is transmitted by friction grip. That is, the clamp
force on the joint interface generates a friction force that resists any applied shear
loading. On such joints, if slippage is prevented, the bolts do not directly sustain any
shear loading, however they have to provide sufficient clamp force to prevent joint
movement. To achieve this, the clamp force required is the shear force divided by the
coefficient of friction present between the joint surfaces (for the single shear plane
present in the joint shown above). Since the coefficient of friction is usually significantly
less than 1, this requirement results in a significantly larger clamp force being required
than the magnetude of the shear force. In this example, the applied shear is 4 kN
which, if a coefficient of friction of 0.2 is assumed between the joint plates, results in a
minimum clamp force of 20 kN (i.e. 4/0.2).

Total Preload Requirement: This represents the minimum preload required to be

provided by the bolt. It is the sum of the embedding loss, the amount of the applied
axial force that reduces the clamp force on the joint and the clamp force needed to
prevent slippage of the joint due to a shear loading.

Preload Variation: In an ideal world the preload provided by the bolt would be known to
an exact value and would be the same for every bolt tightened. Unfortunately there is
no low cost means of tightening a bolt and knowing, precisely, the preload value.
Techniques such as tightening the bolt to a specific torque value results in variation in
the preload between, apparently, identical bolts. This is as a result of not being able to
apply the torque to the same exact value each time, variation in the hole and bolt
tolerances but more importantly, variation in the coefficient of friction present in the
threads and under the nut/bolt face. To design a joint successfully this scatter in the
preload must be taken into account. This can be done in a number of ways but usually
either by determining the minimum/maximum preloads from knowledge of the friction
variation or by the use of a tightening factor.

The problem: In the above chart the total preload requirement exceeds the minimum
preload. What this means is that on some, but not all joints, the preload will be
insufficient to resist the applied forces. In such cases, joint failure can be anticipated.
The failure is likely to be by either bolt fatigue (due to bending due to the joint slipping
and separating) or by self-loosening (due to joint movement).

The solution: In general, changes can be made to increase the minimum preload value
(by using a stronger or larger bolt or changing the tightening method) or by reducing
the applied forces (by using more bolts in the joint, or by increasing the friction between
the joint interface and so reducing the shear force requirement etc.) Shown below is
the chart for changing the tightening method to torque and angle. If applied correctly.
this method will consistently provide a high preload value.

9
Factor of Safety: A question which often arises is how much of a gap there should be
between the total preload requirement and the minimum preload value. This depends
essentially upon engineering judgement. If the applied forces are accurately know, if
product testing is going to be completed, then the gap can be small. If the forces are
not known accurately, and the consequences of failure disastrous, then a larger gap
would be sensible. The consequence of having a generous factor of safety is that a
larger bolt size (or higher strength bolt or better tightening method etc.) would be
needed then which would otherwise be the case. This can result in a more expensive
and less competitive product.
Preload Requirement Charts can be developed to include other effects such as the
effect on bolt loading of differential thermal expansion. They are a useful method for
joint analysis and solving bolting issues.

10