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Gary L. Kinzel1
e-mail: kinzel.1@osu.edu
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
The Ohio State University,
650 Ackerman Road, Suite 255,
Columbus, OH 43201
Introduction
The basic model in this study uses a 1 in. diameter bolt with a
corresponding plain hexagonal nut. The width across the flats of
the nut is increased over the standard value by 1 / 8 in. to allow
sufficient width for design changes to be made to the shape of the
nut. In this study, all screw threads are of the 18 UNC thread
form. This corresponds to a major diameter of 1 in. with eight
threads per inch. The thread class used in this study is class 3A
and 3B for external and internal threads respectively, since this
class of thread is most used in high-precision applications. The
root radius for the threads is taken as L / 6, where L is the thread
height 16. This form is followed for all models. Since the root
radius for the internal thread is half of that for the external thread,
the internal thread root radius is taken as half of the external root
radius or L / 12. The material of the bolt and the nut is AISI 8740
steel. This material is a low-alloy, high-carbon steel commonly
used in aerospace fasteners and has an elastic modulus of
205 GPa and Poissons ratio of 0.29. The stress concentrations in
other bolt sizes and materials may vary slightly, but the trends
suggested by this study should apply to all bolts in this class.
In this study, the contact between the bolt and nut is analyzed
using the finite element software ALGOR. Four-noded axisymmetric quadrilateral elements are used in all cases and a pressure is
applied to the element edge. The load applied is sufficient to produce a nominal stress of 10 psi in the shank of the bolt. A linear
elastic model is assumed so the stress results can be scaled for any
bolt loading. To verify that roundoff error was not an issue,
sample analyses were conducted with stress levels of 100 and
1000 psi, and the results were found to be the same. Figure 1
shows the load and boundary conditions for the finite element
model used in this study. Each bolt-nut combination was modeled
using axisymmetry, with displacement restraints applied to the
geometric edges. The axis of symmetry of the bolt was restrained
in the radial direction. A surface pressure of 10 psi was applied to
the top surface of the bolt. The upper surface of the nut was
restrained in the vertical direction, while the lower surface of the
nut was free. There was approximately 2.5 in. between the edge
where the load was applied and the first thread. This length ensures that the stress field is fully developed at the discontinuities.
The error resulting from modeling the bolt and nut axisymmetrically and neglecting the helix angle has been ignored in this study.
The helix angle is very small less than 2 deg on most bolts so
the three-dimensional effect will be very small. The twodimensional approximation for the problem was also made in the
earlier experimental photoelastic studies reported in the literature
17. Similarly, the influence on the stresses due to the facets on
the nut is assumed to be negligible.
The analysis procedure was verified by modeling sample geom-
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Fig. 2 Finite element mesh and stress distribution at the contacting threads
root of the threads. For each model, the stress concentration factor
was calculated as the ratio of maximum principal stress in the
nut-bolt system to the nominal stress in the shank of the bolt. The
maximum principal stress was obtained from the finite element
analysis. The highest stress is found to occur at the first thread in
the bolt and decreases progressively at subsequent threads. Figure
2 shows a typical finite element mesh at the crest and root of the
threads.
Design Modifications
The base model model A represents a plain bolt-nut combination with the width across the flats of the nut extended by 1 / 8 in.
above standard. Subsequent models B-G incorporate design modifications made to the base model. Table 1 shows these design
modifications along with the resulting stress concentration factors
computed. The stress concentration factor was found to be 7.63
for the base model.
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Table 5 Stress concentration factor K for various geometries of model B. h = 0.0625 in.
Table 6 Stress concentration factor K for various geometries of model C. D = 0.8797 in., T = 1 in.
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factor of 75% for the base model plain 1-in. bolt with corresponding hexagonal nut slightly extended. The effect of
the radius of the fillet between the shank of the bolt and the
threaded portion on the stress concentration is not very significant.
2 When the shank diameter of the bolt is reduced to 50% of the
minor diameter of the threads, the location of the maximum
stress moves away from the threaded portion to the shank of
the bolt. Beyond this, the location of maximum stress becomes independent of the geometry of the threaded portion.
3. It is possible to achieve a significant reduction in the stress
concentration by incorporating steps and grooves on the nuts
and bolt, even without a reduction in shank diameter. For
example, one of the models considered in this study model
E which features a step on the nut and a groove on the
lower end of the bolt gives a stress concentration factor reduction of 40% compared to a plain bolt and nut.
4. A design that combines a groove on the lower end of the
bolt, a step on the nut and a reduction in shank diameter
model G in this study gives the maximum reduction in
stress concentration, when the shank diameter of the bolt is
greater than 50% of the minor diameter of the threads.
The study shows that the most significant results can be
achieved by reducing the shank diameter. However, if the system
is sized based on the nominal shank diameter, reducing the shank
diameter may not be the best option. In this case the size of the
threaded section must be increased. This will add significant
weight to the system since the threaded end and nut size would
increase dramatically.
Essentially all of the stress reduction methods based on a modification of the threaded section and nut remove material. Therefore, even though the stress concentration changes due to changes
in the nut and thread end appear to be less dramatic than those
resulting from reducing the shank diameter, the nut and thread
changes may be more efficient from a material utilization and cost
standpoint.
NOVEMBER 2006, Vol. 128 / 1341
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Acknowledgment
The authors wish to thank Celeste Warda and Joe Stefanelli of
Algor Inc. for providing the finite element software used in this
study and for helping with the modeling procedure.
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