ZEIT1501 Session:

FASTENERS
References
Culley, R. (ed.) 2011. Fitting and Machining. Melbourne: RMIT Publishing
(the green book):
• Chapter 13 - Fasteners
• Chapter 14 - Screw Threads
History of Threaded Fasteners
• Pre-history –pins, rivets and bindings
• Romans – filed or soldered threads for things like
screw presses
• 1568 – Screw cutting lathes – hand-cut using gauges
– bolt and nut paired
• 1760 – Mass production of screw threads – but to
different designs
• 1841 –Joseph Whitworth – standardised thread
pattern and pitches - 55o with round roots and crests
• 1864 – American Standard Coarse and Fine Series -
60o with flat roots and crests
• 1919 – German DIN thread standard – 60o rounded
root with flat crests Source:
https://www.nord-lock.com/insights/knowledge/2017/the-history-of-the-bolt/
• 1948 – Unified thread form based on DIN for imperial
and metric dimensions
Huge Variety of Fasteners
Prison Bus, Odessa, USA 14/01/2015 –
Incorrect Fastener
• 10 people died. Only 5
survived.
• Only one set of seats on
the bus remained fully
attached to the floor.
• 17 pairs of seats were
torn out from the floor
and sidewall during the
crash.
 Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydro Power
Plant 2009 Disaster – Fatigue Failure
Turbine anchor bolts & supports
failed
• Water entered the pit, blowing
the 1,860-ton turbine cover into
the roof, and the turbine across
the gallery, destroying
everything in its path.
• The bolts had fatigue damage
covering an average of 65% of
a bolt’s cross-sectional area.
2 Apr 2005:RAN Sea King Helicopter
- Improperly Secured
Board of Inquiry findings 2006:
• Nut and split pin incorrectly fitted.
• Squadron responsible for the helicopter's
maintenance routinely took shortcuts

Tragic ... Wreckage of the Royal Australian Navy Sea King helicopter, which crashed
on the Indonesian island of Nias yesterday. Photo: Hungarian Special Rescue
Services
General terms used in this lecture
Stress/strain curve
• Tensile Strength: The
maximum load in tension
(pulling apart) which a
material can withstand before
breaking or fracturing.
• Yield Strength: The
maximum load at which a
material exhibits a specific
permanent deformation
• Proof Load: An axial tensile
load which the product must
withstand without evidence of
any permanent set.
Bolts -Terminology
E –body diameter
L –total bolt length
Lt –thread length
Y –transition thread length (runout)
H –head height
F –width across the flats
G –width across the corners
R –radius of fillet
Metric Standard Thread
Dmaj= nominal diameter
P = thread pitch
H = 0.866 x P
Rolled versus Cut Thread
 Coarse
Fine Thread Pitches
Pitch

Metric Bolt Sizes M1

M1.2
0.25
0.25
0.20
0.20
M1.6 0.35 0.20
M1.7 0.35
M2 0.40 0.25
M2.2 0.45 0.25
M2.3 0.40
M2.5 0.45 0.35
M2.6 0.45
M3 0.50 0.35
M4 0.70 0.50
M5 0.80 0.50
M6 1.00 0.75
M8 1.25 1.00 0.75
Metric Bolt Size - Grade 8.8 M9 1.25 1.00 0.75
M6 x 1 M8 x 1.25 M10 x 1.5 M12 x 1.75 M10 1.50 1.25 1.00 0.75
Clamping force 8700 15900 25275 36675 M11 1.50 1.00 0.75
Proof load 11600 21200 33700 48900
M12 1.75 1.50 1.25 1.00
M16 2.00 1.50 1.00
Failure load 16100 29200 46400 67400 M20 2.50 2.00 1.50 1.00
…. …. …. …. ….
M90 6.00 4.00 3.00 2.00
M100 6.00 4.00 3.00 2.00
Metric bolt standards - Grade
Approximate minimum
material tensile M8 Metric Bolt Grade
strength (MPa) /100 4.6 8.8 10.9 12.9
ie. 800MPa 6180 15900 22800 26625
Clamping force
(preload)

Proof load (N) 8240 21200 30400 35500

M8 grade 8.8 Failure load (N) 14600 29200 38100 44600

Medium
Alloy steel – Alloy steel –
carbon steel –
Mild Steel quenched and quenched and
quenched and
tempered tempered
tempered
Yield strength at least X
times tensile strength 50mm shank cost $0.32 $0.50 $0.57 $0.69
0.8 x 800 = 640MPa
Force – Displacement Chart of Grade
8.8 Bolts
Metric Nuts and Hardened Washers
Nuts:
M8 x 1.25 Comparison of Proof Loads (N) for Different
•Metric nut grades –single figure –Tensile Grades
strength/100 = X
• Example -- M8 grade 8
•For a certain grade bolt -always use the
same or higher grade nut Grade 4 8 10 12
Flat washers:
•Purpose: Bolt 8240 21200 30400 35500
•Smooth hard surface for seating the bolt/nut
•Prevent embedding in the clamped material –
lose of pre-load 13900 31800 38100 42500
Nut
•Help control galvanic corrosion
•Spacing
•Use hardened washers on structural joints
Bolted Assemblies - Terms
• Snugging- the process of pulling parts of a joint together, most of the input during this process is absorbed in the
joint with little tension being given to the bolt.

• Preload - the tension created in a fastener when tightened.

• Clamping force - the compressive force which a fastener exerts on the joint. Typically 75% of proof load.

• External force or load - Forces exerted on a fastener as a result of an applied loading to the joint.

• Proof load of a bolt - the specified load the product must withstand without permanent set.

• Proof load of a nut - the axially applied load the nut must withstand without thread stripping or rupture.

• Embedding - local plastic deformations that occur under the nut face, in the joint faces and in the threads as a result
of plastic flattening of the surface roughness.

• Galling - a severe form of adhesive wear which occurs during sliding contact of one surface over another. Clumps of
one part stick to the other part and break away. (Noteworthy when both the nut and bolt are made from stainless
steel, high alloy steels, titanium or zinc coated fasteners).
Stress Distribution in a Bolt
 Joint Diagram 1 - Bolt preload tension is offset by
compression of the part
- parts clamped together by a tightened bolt
Force
Double Spring Analogy

The part Bolt Initial force =

(in compression) (in tension) Bolt preload =
FI

Displacement

External force on the part =

P
Joint Diagram 2 – Move the part line

Force

Part Bolt

Displacement
Joint Diagram 2 – Move the part line

Force

Bolt Part

Displacement
Joint Diagram 3 – apply external force increment X to the part

There is a relatively small increase of the force in the bolt

compared with the decrease of compression in the part
Force

External force increment X

Bolt tension increase

Part compression decrease

Bolt
Part

Displacement
Joint Diagram 4 – apply external force increment 2X to the part
Again - there is a relatively small increase of the force in the
bolt compared with the decrease of compression in the part
Force

External force increment 2X

Bolt tension increase

Part compression decrease

Bolt
Part

Displacement
Joint Diagram 5 – apply external force increment 3X to the part
Now the compression of the part is removed .
There is no clamping – the part can shift
The bolt now takes any additional load increment

External force increment 3X

Bolt tension increase

Part compression decrease

Bolt
Part

Displacement
 Force increase in the bolt depends on the relative stiffness of the bolt and
the part

𝑘𝐵 When properly pre-loaded, the part “protects “

𝐹𝐵 = ×𝑃 the bolt from cyclic loads:
𝑘𝐵 + 𝑘𝑃
• The exact behaviour depends on many factors.
𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒: 𝐹𝐵 = 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡 • It is often assumed the clamped materials
𝑃 = 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 have a stiffness of three times the bolt
𝑘𝐵 = 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑏𝑜𝑙𝑡 stiffness.
𝑘𝑃 = 𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 • This means the bolt would feel ¼ of the
external load increment (until separation)
Bolted Assemblies - Clamping is
important
• Say two aluminium plates are joined by four M6 Grade 8.8 bolts:
• Frictional force: M6 x 1
• Total clamping force = 4 x 8700 = 34800 N grade 8.8
• Coefficient of friction aprox. = 1.2 Clamping force 8700
• Frictional force = 41760 N Proof load 11600
Failure load 16100
• Shear strength of bolts:
• •62% of UTS x qty 4 = 16100 x 0.62 x 4 = 39928 N
• Any loss of preload clamping reduces the strength of the assembly!
• Use friction to prevent shear loads on the fasteners and to prevent
loosening caused transverse cyclic loading
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKwWu2w1gGk
Methods to Achieve and Test Preload
Method Accuracy Relative Cost
Five main methods used to
Feel +/- 35% 1
control the preload of a
threaded fastener: Torque wrench +/- 25% 1.5
Turn-of-the-nut +/- 15% 3
1. Torque control tightening
Preload +/- 10% 7
2. Angle control tightening Indicating (PLI)
washers
3. Direct tension indicating Bolt elongation +/- 3 to 5% 15
methods
Strain gages +/- 1% 20
4. Bolt elongation method
5. Heat tightening (by thermal Accuracy and Cost of Specific Preload Methods

expansion)
Self-Loosening of Fasteners
Threaded fasteners can lose preload and come loose without human
intervention:
• Creep – increased strain under constant stress
• Stress relaxation – decreased stress under constant strain
• Embedding
• Self-rotation – vibration loosening
 Thread Locking Adhesive
• Locking the thread with adhesive gives the fastened assembly
good resistance to vibration loosening.
• Various types:
• Liquid form at the assembly stage
• Precoated fastener
• Different strengths.
• Application:
• Correct preload is still needed:
• Generally a higher thread friction to obtain preload
• A slight prevailing torque characteristic will be present
• Full cure normally achieved within 24 hours, dependent on
the finish applied to the fastener, the bond gap and ambient
temperature. An activator can be used to improve curing
time.
Less than 1200C
Sheet Metal Fasteners
Rivets
• A metal pin or bar with a cylindrical shape used to
fasten two or more pieces of metal together. It is a
permanent fastener
• Wooden rivets used in 3000BC Egypt and many other
uses like heavy doors and gates
• Gained importance with the industrial age with the
production of ductile iron and steel
• Historically very important for steel structures –boilers,
steam locomotives, Eiffel Tower (1889), Sydney
Harbour Bridge (1932), Golden Gate Bridge (1937).
• Solid rivets are still important in the construction and
repair of aircraft
• Usually aluminium but also monel or titanium
Aircraft Riveting
Blind Rivets Grip Tight

Closed-end

Break-on-stem

Large head

Multigrip
Captured Nuts
Bimetal Galvanic Corrosion
• Anodic Index: Most cathodic
• •Graphite
• •Platinum, Gold (noble)
• •Silver
• •Titanium, Nickel
• •Stainless steel 316 (passive)
• •Stainless Steel 304 (passive)
• •Brasses and Bronzes
• •Tungsten
• •Tin
• •Lead
• •Chromium plating
• •Copper
• •Cast iron
• •Steel
• •Aluminium, Cadmium
• •Zinc
• •Magnesium Most anodic
Structural Adhesives Benefits:
• No damage to parts –no holes
• Characteristics: • No heat distortion
• High-load bearing • Can join dissimilar materials
• Environmental and chemical resistant • No galvanic corrosion problems
• Considered a permanent fastening • Can work with different geometries
• Includes liquids, tapes and melts
• No localised stresses
• Heat sensitive • No skin distortion
• Prone to creep • Better fatigue resistant

• Aesthetically pleasing –minimum

refinishing
Structural Adhesives
Acrylics • Epoxies Urethanes Cyanoacrylates
Comparison of Structural Adhesives
• Performance and
mechanical:
• E.g. impact and vibration,
stresses on the bond line,
direction of loading

• Operational conditions:
• E.g. temperature moisture , uv,
chemicals, solvents,
detergents, continual or
occasional

• •Toxicity requirements:
• E.g. food processing, medical
devices