Bolted Joints and Bolt Preload

Overview
Dan Griffin - Director of Engineering
Design Automation Associates, Inc.
www.DAASolutions.com

April 14th, 2011

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 Subjects for Discussion
• Why use bolted joints
• Bolt load vs. applied load
• Fatigue
• Prying
• How to choose Bolts, Preload
• Example preload spreadsheet

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 Why Use Bolted Joints
•Easy to assemble
•Usually Inexpensive
•Allows preloading of joint so it remains rigid under various loads
•Preload takes advantage of stack spring rate so bolt is little affected by cyclic load
•Friction resulting from preload multiplies shear bearing capability

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 Bolt Load vs. Applied Load

PA = Load Applied to Joint

P0 = Bolt Preload
Pb = Actual Load in Bolt

The Effectiveness
of the Bolted
Joint is based
upon its Preload!

Loose Bolt Tight Bolt

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 Bolt Load vs. Applied Load
Flange “Stack”

“Bolt”

K1A – Bolt Shoulder as Applicable

K1B – Bolt Shank or Undercut
K1C – Portion of Threaded Section in Tension
K2 – Portion of Bolt Head in Compression
K3 – Portion of Bolt Head in Shear
K4 – Portion of nut in Compression
K5 – Thread slip due to Nut Radial Growth
K6A – Flange Portion within Cone of Compression
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K6B – 2nd Flange Portion Within Cone of Compression 5
 Bolt Load vs. Applied Load
PA  K TOT 
K TOT  K b  K s “Bolt” Group and “Stack” Group are springs in parallel

Kb  1
1  1  1  1  1  1  1 
 K1 A K1 B K1C K2 K3 K4 K 5 
Each Group is made
Ks  1 up of springs in series
1  1 
 K 6A K 6B 

  PA K  K  Flange “Stack”
b s

Pb  P0  K b
Ps   P0  K s

Pb  P0  K b  
PA
 K b  K s 
Ps   P0  K s  PA 
 K b  K s 
K Ks is usually 5-10X Kb
Pb  P0  PA b
Ks So – Pb is nearly
Ps  Copyright
 P0  P , 2011
A constant even though 6
PA is cyclic! “Bolt”
 Fatigue
Here’s how the preload and stiffness ratio render the properly designed bolted joint
immune to fatigue…..

Loose Bolt Tight Bolt

Assume Kb/Ks=0.1; P0=2PA

Max Pb=PA Max Pb = P0+PA Kb/Ks = P0+0.1PA = 2.1PA

Min Pb=0 Min Pb = P0 = 2PA
Mean Load=PA/2 Mean Load = 2.05PA
Cyclic Load=PA/2 Cyclic Load = 0.05PA

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 Fatigue

•Loose Bolt will fail in fatigue in almost any cyclic loading situation given bolt
stress concentrations
•Tight bolt will not experience fatigue or even significant cyclic stress as long
as separation is avoided
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 Prying
Heel
PA PA

Toe
•For thin flanges like the one shown (Typical of aerospace applications),
prying due to offsets between bolt, applied load , and flange toe can be
significant
•Applied load must be scaled up to account for prying
•Simple rule of thumb for bolt pattern sizing:
ab
PA, Effective  PA
b
Prying Factor
•Larger Industrial flanges with long bolts are less susceptible to this
•Need FEA to determine with accuracy
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 How to Choose Bolts, Preload

This is generally iterative:

1. Determine applied loading
2. Choose a size and pattern
3. Rough estimate prying factor, effective applied load per bolt
4. Determine bolt torque, minimum preload based on strength, thread, and
maximum friction coefficient based on lubricant
5. Compare effective applied load to minimum preload – PA,Effective/P0
should be less than 0.3-0.5 for Aerospace flanges, can be larger for
industrial flanges
6. Adjust bolt size and count to converge on above goal
7. Perform FEA to confirm no separation at bolt hole. If you do everything
correctly, you will only need one FEA!
8. Given no separation – fatigue analysis should not be necessary!

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 Example Preload Spreadsheet
Criteria for Sizing Preload for a given Bolt Geometry, Thread,
Lubricant

•Tighten bolts to full capability:

90% Sy for Maximum Principal Nominal Stress including
tensile and torsion due to wrenching
Some folks use 60% Sy when just considering tensile stress
alone which is roughly equivalent
Assume minimum friction coeficient (0.10 for oil, 0.02 for
some wet anti-seize compounds)

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 Example Preload Spreadsheet

T  KF Bolt Torque

T1  K1 F Threaded Section Torque

T2  K 2 F Head Thrust Face Torque

Where:

K  K1  K 2
P  tan   f1 sec  
K1    Threaded Section Friction Factor
2 1  f1 tan  sec  

f  DH3  Dh3 
K2  2  2 2 
Head Thrust Face Friction Factor
3  H
D  Dh 

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 Example Preload Spreadsheet
F
t  Tensile Stress
A

s 
T1 
Torsion Shear Stress, where: Zp  3
d min
Zp 16

 
2

 s '   t    s2 Max Shear Stress

 2 

t
 t '   s'  Max Principal Stress
2

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 Example Preload Spreadsheet Thread Type
Coarse Threads
TABLE 2 - Torque, Stress and Load Data for Bolts with: Oil Lubricated Lubricant
Low Strength Material (100-149 KSI)
Recommended
Strength Class
Recommended Torque
Min Torque - self
Pitch - free running, f K1 K2
Minor locking, f =.10,
Thread Size Diameter =.10, (lb.-in.)
Diameter (lb.-in.)
(in.)
(in.) Min. Friction Factor Friction Factor
Max. Min. Max.
Type I Type II 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.10 0.15 0.20 Friction Coefficients
.190-24 UNJC-3A 0.1629 0.1368 34 30 28 20 24 0.0162 0.0210 0.0259 0.0152 0.0228 0.0305
.250-20 UNJC-3A 0.2175 0.1864 75 65 65 45 55 0.0207 0.0271 0.0336 0.0182 0.0274 0.0365
.3125-18 UNJC-3A 0.2764 0.2420 160 140 140 105 125 0.0250 0.0331 0.0414 0.0213 0.0320 0.0427
Size/Thread .375-16 UNJC-3A 0.3344 0.2957 280 250 250 180 220 0.0295 0.0393 0.0492 0.0244 0.0366 0.0488

.4375-14 UNJC-3A 0.3911 0.3472 460 410 420 310 370 0.0342 0.0457 0.0573 0.0292 0.0439 0.0585 Torques
.500-13 UNJC-3A 0.4500 0.4028 690 620 630 470 560 0.0385 0.0517 0.0650 0.0323 0.0485 0.0647
.5625-12 UNJC-3A 0.5084 0.4574 1000 900 925 675 825 0.0429 0.0578 0.0728 0.0372 0.0557 0.0743
.625-11 UNJC-3A 0.5660 0.5105 1350 1200 1250 900 1100 0.0474 0.0641 0.0808 0.0403 0.0604 0.0805

.750-10 UNJC-3A 0.6850 0.6240 2400 2100 2300 1700 2000 0.0558 0.0758 0.0960 0.0482 0.0723 0.0963
.875-9 UNJC-3A 0.8028 0.7352 3900 3500 3700 2700 3300 0.0644 0.0879 0.1115 0.0561 0.0841 0.1121
1.000-8 UNJC-3A 0.9188 0.8430 5900 5300 5600 4200 5000 0.0733 0.1002 0.1273 0.0640 0.0960 0.1280
TABLE 2 Continued
Fmax = Bolt Loads Stresses Based on Max. Torque
Fmin = Bolt Loads With Min. Torque, lbs
with Max. Torque, lbs and f =.10 (KSI)
Thread Size
f = .10 f = .15 f = .20 Friction Factor
Type I Type II Type I Type II Type I Type II 0.10 0.15 0.20 σt τs τs' σt'
Min Bolt Loads
.190-24 UNJC-3A 637 764 456 547 355 426 891 638 497 65.2 45.3 55.8 88.4
.250-20 UNJC-3A 1156 1413 826 1009 642 784 1669 1192 927 65.8 40.8 52.4 85.3 Max Bolt Loads
.3125-18 UNJC-3A 2267 2699 1612 1919 1250 1488 3023 2149 1666 70.7 39.9 53.3 88.6
.375-16 UNJC-3A 3341 4083 2370 2897 1835 2243 4640 3292 2549 72.7 37.0 51.9 88.2

.4375-14 UNJC-3A 4888 5834 3461 4131 2677 3195 6622 4689 3627 75.2 36.1 52.2 89.8
.500-13 UNJC-3A 6638 7909 4690 5588 3624 4318 8898 6287 4858 75.1 35.0 51.3 88.8 Stresses
.5625-12 UNJC-3A
.625-11 UNJC-3A
8434
10265
10308
12546
5944
7233
7265
8840
4587
5580
5606
6820
11557 8146
14257 10046
6285
7750
75.6
74.9
34.2
34.0
51.0
50.6
88.8
88.0
(<90% Sy)
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2011 UNJC-3A 16357 19244 11479 13504 8837 10396 22130 15530 11956 77.8 32.6 50.7 89.7 14
.875-9 UNJC-3A 22420 27402 15699 19188 12072 14755 30723 21514 16543 77.8 31.7 50.2 89.1
1.000-8 UNJC-3A 30588 36415 21405 25482 16454 19588 40784 28540 21938 78.6 31.4 50.3 89.6