Skills and Practices Flyer # 30

An occasional newsletter for sharing learnings from maintenance activities.

What Bolt Is That?

The bolts we use in our machinery are made to many different standards. The properties of the common bolts we come across are defined in Australian Standard 4291.1 (ISO standard 898-1) or SAE standard J429. A key property of a bolt is its tensile strength, and these 2 standards define the bolt strength in different ways. The metric system uses Property Classes while the imperial system uses Strength Grades. The ISO Property Classes are 3.6, 4.6, 4.8, 5.6, 5.8, 6.8, 8.8, 9.8, 10.9, 10.9, and 12.9. The SAE Strength Grades are 1, 2, 3, 5, 5.1, 5.2, 8, and 8.2. Corresponding SAE Strength Grade 1 2 3 5 8 Nominal Tensile Strength MPa. 300 400 500 500 600 800 1000 1200

ISO Property Class This table shows the relationship between these 2 systems. Note the differences. e.g. a Class 8.8 bolt does NOT have the same strength as a Grade 8 bolt! 3.6 4.6 5.6 5.8 6.8 8.8 10.9 12.9

The class or grade of a bolt can normally be determined just by looking at the marks that are found on the head of the bolt. Metric bolts are simply marked with their ISO Property Class number. They may also have a manufacturers mark (indicated in these examples by omitted.

* ), and the decimal point may be *

8.8 ISO Property Class 8.8

COMMON METRIC STEEL BOLTS

*
4.6 ISO Property Class 4.6

*
5.8 ISO Property Class 5.8

*
10.9 ISO Property Class 10.9

What bolt is that.doc Prepared by Rod Bennett +61 3 59796717 9/01/2007 1/2 Bluescope Steel 2006. This Flyer is prepared for BlueScope Steel's purposes and may not be directly applicable to your circumstances. It is a summary of a topic and is not a substitute for professional advice.

*
12.9

Metric socket head cap screws use the same system of marks. These marks may be on the side of the head.

12.9

COMMON INCH STEEL BOLTS Unified bolts (UNC / UNF) are marked according to the table on the right. They may also have a manufacturers mark.

SAE Grade 2

SAE Grade 5

SAE Grade 8

Stainless steel bolts are manufactured to ISO Standard 3506-1. The bolt material is defined by two blocks of text separated by a hyphen. See example opposite and details below. Austenitic

*
A4 - 70 Martensitic

Material Group

Ferritic

Steel Grade

A1

A2

A4

F1

C1

C4

C3

Property Class

50

70

80

45

60

50

70

80

Soft

High Strength

Cold Worked

Soft

Cold Worked

Soft

Hardened + Tempered

British Standard Whitworth bolts (BSW) are only made in one low tensile grade. They have no head marks apart from an optional manufacturers mark. If you find a bolt with the property class and 3 radial marks (the manufacturers mark is optional) it is a bolt for structural purposes made to AS1252. 8.8 Structural bolts made to the ASTM standard have a system of identification marks similar to that shown. They may also have 3 radial marks.

A325

What bolt is that.doc Prepared by Rod Bennett +61 3 59796717 9/01/2007 2/2 Bluescope Steel 2006. This Flyer is prepared for BlueScope Steel's purposes and may not be directly applicable to your circumstances. It is a summary of a topic and is not a substitute for professional advice.

Hardened + Tempered