Influences of Various Factors of Bolt Tightening on Loosening-Fatigue Failure under Transverse Vibration

Shinji Hashimura (Kurume National College of Technology, JAPAN)

Paper # :2007-01-0807

Self-Loosening and Fatigue of Bolted Joints

Self-Loosening and Fatigue Test
Typical Loading Types
Axial Vibration Twist Vibration

Transverse Vibration
2

Past Results of Our Researches

1) If a bolt has loosened in the low cycle region, damage such as crack nucleation at the root of the first thread of the bolt does not occur, and loosening is due to bolt rotation. 2) If a bolt has loosened in the high cycle region, fatigue cracks nucleate at the root of the first thread in the all experiments. Loosening occurs due to loss of bolt stiffness caused by crack propagation which then leads to bolt rotation. 3) 99% of loosening-fatigue life Nf under transverse vibration is spent in order to make cracks to nucleate and propagate. 4) The loosening-fatigue life significantly depends on the transverse vibration force although the initial clamping force above a threshold does not have an influence on loosening-fatigue life.

~ Outline ~
Influences of four different factors of bolt tightening on loosening-fatigue characteristics under transverse vibration have been investigated. 1. Influence of bolt property class
Do the transverse loosening-fatigue characteristics depend on bolt property class?

2. Influences of plastic region tightening

Do the transverse loosening-fatigue characteristics improve due to being tightened to within the plastic region?

3. Influences of Grip Length of Bolted Joint

An axial fatigue characteristic improves with an increase in the grip length. Does the transverse loosening-fatigue limit improve?

4. Influences of Engaging Thread Length of Bolted Joint

An axial fatigue characteristic improves with an increase in the 4 engaging thread length. Does the transverse loosening-fatigue limit improve?

Experimental Apparatus
Tightened by wrench Frequency of transverse vibration: 50~60 Hz Lubricant: MoS2 Grease Load cell for transverse vibration Potentiometer Vibrated clamped part Test bolt Air vibrator

Fi =15 kN
Linear roller

Fixed clamped part Load cell for clamping force

5

Estimation of Nominal Stress at the Root of the First Thread

Bending moment MB due to constraining the engaging threads,

MB = C Pt l g
Nominal stress at the root of the first thread t expressed as follows.
C: coefficient depending on tightening conditions

MB 32 C Pt l g = t = Zb d33
C depends on the tightening condition.
The grip length: lg=35mm The engaging thread length: le=10mm
6

MB C= = 0.33 Pt l g

1. Influence of Bolt Property Class

Table Static and Dynamic strength of bolt M10 Bolt Property Class Ultimate Strength B [MPa] Notch Factor
Test bolt: M10 Nominal Length: la=45mm Thread length: lt=27 mm Grip length: 35mm Engaging length: 10mm

4.8 420 2.39 58 ?

8.8 800 3.44 58 ?

10.9 1040 3.57 73 ?

Axial Fatigue Limit w [MPa] Transverse LooseningFatigue Limit tw [MPa]

aw

( 0.2 ) = w0 7 T (T w0 )

w0: Fatigue strength of a smooth specimen T: True ultimate strength 0.2:Proof stress.

1. Influence of Bolt Property Class

Loosening-fatigue life obviously depends on the amplitude of transverse vibration force Pt /2. Except for Pt /2=0.25 kN, all bolts had fatigue cracks. There is a threshold Ptw/2 between 0.25 kN and 0.35 kN corresponding to the loosening-fatigue limit.

1. Influence of Bolt Property Class

Table Static and Dynamic strength of bolt M10 Property Class Axial Fatigue Limit aw [MPa]
atw = aw
KL =

4.8 58

8.8 58

10.9 73

aw
0.92

Fatigue Limit in bending atw [MPa] Transverse LooseningFatigue Limit tw [MPa]

63 65

63 68.5

79.3 69.8

Loosening-fatigue limits do not almost depend on bolt property class.

The transverse fatigue limits tw can be estimated using the axial fatigue limits aw in a practical use because the axial fatigue limit of bolts is known to 9 a certain degree.

2. Influence of Plastic Region Tightening

Generally, the axial fatigue limit of a bolted joint improves if the bolt is tightened to within the plastic region.

Does the transverse loosening-fatigue limit improve?

Fi =25 kN Fi =15 kN

Test bolt: Commercial hexagon head bolt M10, Property class 4.8 10

2. Influence of Plastic Region Tightening

The transverse loosening-fatigue limit deteriorates if the bolted joint was tightened to within the plastic region.
Results of Elastic region tightening. Results of Plastic region tightening.

tw= 65 MPa
21% down

tw= 51 MPa

This result is the opposite to the axial fatigue characteristics.

11

3. Influence of Grip Length

Generally, the axial fatigue characteristic of a bolted joint improves with an increase in the grip length.

Does the transverse loosening-fatigue limit improve?

Test bolt: Commercial hexagon head bolt M10, Property class 10.9 Initial Clamping Force: Fi =15 kN Lubricant: MoS2 Grease Table Tightening conditions Engaging length: le 20 Grip Length: lg 25 35
12

3. Influence of Grip Length

The transverse loosening-fatigue characteristics deteriorates with an increase in the grip length.
lg =25 mm

Ptw/2= 0.36 kN Ptw/2= 0.20 kN

40% down

lg =35 mm

This result is the opposite to the axial fatigue characteristics.

13

3. Influence of Grip Length

(Pt lg )l =35 (Pt lg )l =25
g g

MB :Bending moment at Point B due

to gripping threads,

MB = C Pt l g

f C does not greatly change, MB increases with an increase in lg .

Grip length

The apparent loosening-fatigue limit decreases with an increase in lg .

14

3. Fatigue Morphology of Broken Bolt

The section at the root of the first bolt thread is subjected to complex and varied stress due to the cyclic bending moment, cyclic shearing force and twist torque. 15

4. Influence of Engaging Length

Generally, the axial fatigue limit of a bolted joint improves with an increase in the engaging thread length.

Does the transverse loosening-fatigue limit improve?

Test bolt: Commercial hexagon head bolt M10, Property class 10.9 Initial Clamping Force: Fi =15 kN Lubricant: MoS2 Grease Table Tightening conditions Engaging length: le 10 20 Grip Length: lg 35
16

4. Influence of Engaging Length

The apparent transverse loosening looseningfatigue limit deteriorates with an increase in the engaging thread length
le =10 mm

Ptw/2= 0.30 kN
33% down

Ptw/2= 0.20 kN
le =20 mm

This result is the opposite to the axial fatigue characteristics.

17

4. Influence of Engaging Length

Pt lg

MB :Bending moment at Point B due

to gripping threads,
MB = C Pt lg

C increases with an increase in le , because the constraint of the bolt thread increases.
MB

18

The apparent loosening-fatigue limit decreases with an increase in le because the apparent fatigue limit depends on MB

Improvement Effect by Several Parameters

In each condition, whether the fatigue limits improve or not
Parameters Property Class ~to go up~ Elastic Region Tightening Plastic Region Tightening Engaging Thread Length ~to go up~

Grip Length ~to go up~

Axial Fatigue limit

Almost Same Almost Same

UP

UP

UP

Transverse Fatigue limit

DOWN
19

DOWN

DOWN

Conclusion
The main conclusions obtained in this study are summarized as follows. 1. Bolt property class has almost no influence on the loosening-fatigue characteristic of a bolted joint under transverse. 2. If a bolted joint which was tightened to within the plastic region is subjected to transverse vibration, the loosening-fatigue life and the loosening-fatigue limit under transverse vibration are reduced. This result is the contrary to the result of the axial fatigue characteristics of bolted joints. 3. The apparent loosening-fatigue limit decreases with an increase in the grip length because the bending moment at the root of the first thread is in proportion to the grip length. This result is also the contrary to the result of the axial fatigue characteristics of bolted joints. 4. If the engaging thread length is long, the apparent loosening-fatigue limit decreases although the influence of bolt body length has to be removed in order to isolate the influence of the engaging thread length. Once again, this result is contrary to the result of the axial fatigue characteristics of bolted joints.
20

Thank you very much for your attentions

3. Fatigue Morphology of Broken Bolt

A bolt is subjected to the complicate stresses by the bending moment, shearing force and twisting torque.
22