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DE PARTME N T OF MECHANICA L E NG IN E E RIN G
IIT DE L HI

Threaded Fastener Types

Four basic types of threaded fasteners

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Some common screw

(and bolt) head types

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Bolt Tightening and Initial

Tension
For most applications, screws and nut-bolt assemblies should ideally be
tightened to produce an initial tensile force Fi nearly equal to the full
proof load.
the maximum tensile force that does not produce a normally measurable
permanent set

As the fastener is tightened the tension on the bolt increases.

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Initial tensions are commonly specified as:

where At is the tensile stress area of the thread, Sp is the

proof strength of the material, and Ki is a constant,
usually specified in the range of 0.75 to 1.0.

For ordinary applications involving static loading,

let 0.9, or

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Basic Dimensions of ISO Metric Screw Threads

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Specifications for Steel Used in

Millimeter Series Screws and Bolts

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Briefly, the rationale behind so high an initial tension is the following.

1. For loads tending to separate rigid members (as in Figure), the bolt
load cannot be increased very much unless the members do actually
separate, and the higher the initial bolt tension, the less likely the
members are to separate.

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2. For loads tending to shear the bolt (as in Figure), the higher the initial
tension the greater the friction forces resisting the relative motion in
shear.

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Bolt loads and stresses that are

due to initial tightening of a nut

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The most common method of tightening a bolt by a measured amount

is probably to use a torque wrench.
The accuracy of this method can be seriously limited by variations in
friction. Normal torque wrench usage controls initial tension within
perhaps 30 percent; with special care, 15 percent is considered
reasonable.

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Torque required to tighten the bolt for given preload

where T is wrench torque (Nm); K, constant; Fi, preload (N); d, nominal

bolt diameter (m).
The value of K depends on the bolt material and size.

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An equation relating tightening torque to initial tension:

for standard screw threads,
0.15 as a rough average coefficient of friction,

= 0.2

where d is the nominal major diameter of the thread.

Remember, this is only an approximate relationship, dependent on
average conditions of thread friction.

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Example:
An M10 bolt has been selected for an application. The proof stress of the
low carbon steel bolt material is 310 MPa. Determine the recommended
preload on the bolt and the torque setting.

Solution:

= 0.2

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Thread Loosening and Thread

Locking
An inherent advantage of threaded fasteners (in comparison with
riveting, welding, or cementing) for many applications is that they can
be easily and nondestructively disassembled.
A disadvantage that has plagued engineers since early days is that they
sometimes loosen and disassemble themselves!

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All threaded fasteners are designed to have a small enough helix angle
() and a high enough coefficient of friction (f) to be self-locking under
static conditions.
However, if any relative motion occurs between the bolt and nut
threads (inclined plane and block), the nut tends to loosen (block slides
down inclined plane).
This relative motion is most often caused by vibration, but it can have
other causes such as differential thermal expansion or slight dilation
and contraction of the nut with changes in axial bolt load.

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The following are among the factors influencing whether or not threads
loosen.
1. The greater the helix angle (i.e., the greater the slope of the inclined
plane), the greater the loosening tendency. Thus, coarse threads tend to
loosen more easily than fine threads.
2. The greater the initial tightening, the greater the frictional force that
must be overcome to initiate loosening.
3. Soft or rough clamping surfaces tend to promote slight plastic flow
which decreases the initial tightening tension and thus promotes
loosening.
4. Surface treatments and conditions that tend to increase the friction
coefficient provide increased resistance to loosening.

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Bolt Tension with External

Joint-Separating Force
Bolts are typically used to hold parts together in opposition to forces
tending to pull, or slide, them apart.
Common examples are connecting rod bolts, cylinder head bolts, and so
on.

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The general case of two parts connected with a bolt and

subjected to an external force Fe tending to separate them.

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Equilibrium considerations require one or both of the following:

(1) an increase in Fb and
(2) a decrease in Fc .

The relative magnitudes of the changes in Fb and Fc depend on the

relative elasticity involved.

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Effect of relative
elasticity in
bolted joints

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Case 1:
Fb and Fc versus Fe per bolt for soft clamped membersrigid bolt.

The elastic stretch of the bolt caused by Fe is so small that the thick rubber
gasket cannot expand significantly. Thus, the clamping force Fc does not
diminish and the entire load Fe goes to increasing bolt tension.

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Case 2:
Fb and Fc versus Fe per bolt for rigid clamped memberssoft bolt.

In this case the entire separating force is balanced by decreased

clamping force, with no increase in bolt tension.

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General case
The realistic case in which both the bolt and the clamped members
have applicable stiffness.
Joint tightening both elongates the bolt and compresses the clamped
members.
When external force Fe is applied, the bolt and the clamped members
elongate the same amount, (i.e., dimension g increases by amount
for both).

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The separating force must be equal to the sum of the increased bolt
force plus the decreased clamping force, or

By definition,

where kb and kc are the spring constants for the bolt and clamped
members, respectively.

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Substituting

Combining

Thus the equations for Fb and Fc are

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Force relationships for bolted connections.

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1. When the external load is sufficient to bring the clamping force to

zero (point A), the bolt force and the external force must be equal.
Hence, the figure shows Fc = 0 and Fb = Fe for values of Fe in excess of A.
(This is not a normally usable range of Fe , for physical separation of the
clamped surfaces would seldom be acceptable.)
2. When the external load is alternately applied and removed,
fluctuations of Fb and Fc are conveniently determined from the figure, as
shown.

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Determination of kb and kc
From the basic equations for axial deflection and for spring rate,

where the grip g represents the approximate effective length for both.

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Two difficulties that commonly arise in estimating kc are

1. The clamped members may consist of a stack of different materials,
representing springs in series. For this case, use the formula for the
spring rate of springs in series:

2. The effective cross-sectional area of the clamped members is seldom

easy to determine. This is particularly true if the members have
irregular shapes, or if they extend a substantial distance from the bolt
axis. An empirical procedure sometimes used to estimate Ac.

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One method for estimating the effective area

of clamped members (for calculating kc).

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