Finite Element Analysis of the Thermal and Mechanical Behaviors of a Bolted Joint

Toshimichi Fukuoka
Professor Faculty of Maritime Sciences, Kobe University, 5-1-1, Fukaeminami, Higashinada-ku, Kobe, Japan Phone: 81-78-431-6283 Fax: 81-78-431-6286 e-mail: fukuoka@maritime.kobe-u.ac.jp

Mechanical and thermal behaviors of the bolted joint subjected to thermal load are analyzed using axisymmetric FEM, where the effects of thermal contact resistance at the interface and heat ow through small gap are taken into account in order to accurately evaluate the variations of bolt preloads. It is expected that the numerical procedure proposed here provides an effective means for estimating the strength of such critical structures as pressure vessels, internal combustion engines, steam and gas turbines, etc. An experimental equation that can compute the thermal contact coefcient at the interface composed of common engineering materials has been proposed in the previous paper. In this study, a simple equation for evaluating the amount of heat ow through small gap is shown by dening apparent thermal contact coefcient. Accordingly, a numerical approach has been established, which can accurately analyze the thermal and mechanical behaviors of a bolted joint, by incorporating the two kinds of thermal contact coefcients into FE formulation. By use of the FE code thus developed, it is shown that only a slight difference in coefcients of linear expansion among the joint members signicantly affects the variations of bolt preloads. The validity of the numerical approach is demonstrated by experimentation. DOI: 10.1115/1.2042477

Introduction

It is particularly important from the engineering point of view to accurately evaluate the temperature and stress elds of machinery and structures subjected to thermal load. Recently, a number of papers have been published on the thermal behaviors of pipe ange connections and gaskets under steady state 1,2, or under transient state temperature elds 35, anges for high temperature applications 6,7, and the numerical analysis of the sealing performance 8 and the testing protocols of gaskets 9. Meanwhile, machinery is generally composed of many parts and machine elements, and then discontinuous temperature distributions are observed at the interface. Temperature drop at the interface can be calculated by evaluating the thermal contact resistance concerned. However, it is difcult to estimate the thermal contact resistance with sufcient accuracy for the mating surfaces composed of common engineering materials under various surface conditions 1016. Most currently, an experimental equation was proposed for calculating the thermal contact coefcient, which is the reciprocal of the thermal contact resistance 17. The equation is found to be valid for common engineering materials used under high contact pressure in an atmospheric condition. In addition to the thermal contact resistance, it is predicted that the small gaps existing between the bolt body and the plate hole and around the clearance ank of engaged threads may also affect the thermal behaviors of bolted joint. In this study, apparent thermal contact coefcient is dened in order to evaluate the amount of heat ow through small gap, and a simple equation is suggested as a result of experiments. By incorporating the apparent thermal contact coefcient and the thermal contact coefcient into the nite element formulation, a FE code is developed. Then, fundamental characteristics of the bolted joint subjected to thermal load are systematically analyzed as axisymmetric elastic contact problems. It is shown that among various thermal properties, coefcient of linear expansion has the
Contributed by the Pressure Vessels and Piping Division of ASME for publication in the JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received December 19, 2003; nal manuscript received June 21, 2005. Review conducted by: Dennis K. Williams.

most dominant effects on the variations of bolt preloads. Also, only a slight difference in the coefcients of linear expansion, between the bolt-nut and the plate materials, signicantly inuences the bolt preload variations. The accuracy of the proposed numerical method is demonstrated by experiments using the strain gauges for high temperature use.

Bolted Joint under Thermal Load

A bolted joint is frequently subjected to thermal load in various ways. A positive example is the tightening method with a bolt heater that is widely used for huge bolts. Its tightening process and fundamental characteristics have been elucidated by FEM 18. On the other hand, the heating of machinery and structures usually causes the variations of the bolt preloads that lead to the decrease of their strength. Figure 1 schematically shows the heat ow in a bolted joint subjected to thermal load. As shown in the gure, the bolted joint has several contact surfaces such as the pressure ank of threads, the loaded surfaces of the nut and the bolt head, and the mating surfaces between the plates. In order to accurately evaluate the temperature eld, the effects of thermal contact resistance at those contact surfaces must be taken into account. An experimental equation for thermal contact coefcient hc W / m2 K, which is the reciprocal of the thermal contact resistance, has been derived in the previous paper 17

hc = 105 c1

p Hv
m Ra t

2/3

c2
n Ra t

R at = R a1 + R a2 c1 = 0.06 0.055, 0.065 c2 = 0.09 0.085, 0.095 m = 0.8 0.8, 0.9 Transactions of the ASME

402 / Vol. 127, NOVEMBER 2005

Copyright 2005 by ASME

Downloaded 05 Feb 2008 to 129.5.128.34. Redistribution subject to ASME license or copyright; see http://www.asme.org/terms/Terms_Use.cfm

Fig. 2 Test setup for measuring apparent thermal contact coefcient

Fig. 1 Heat ow through a bolted joint subjected to thermal load

n = 0.7 0.7, 0.8 It has been demonstrated that the equation is valid for common engineering materials such as carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum alloy, etc. and Hv are thermal conductivity W/mK and Vickers hardness of the contacting solids, and p is the apparent contact pressure MPa. Ra represents the surface roughness of arithmetic mean of the contact surface. Four constants of c1, c2, m, and n are selected as shown in the equation. In addition to the heat ow through those contact surfaces, considerable amounts of heat exchange occur through the small gaps existing between the bolt body and the plate hole and around the clearance ank of engaged threads. In the subsequent chapter, the amounts of heat ow through the small gaps with various sizes are measured. Then, apparent thermal contact coefcient he is dened, and as a result of experiments an equation for he is suggested for estimating the heat ow through small gap.

equipped with the rubber heater, since the magnitude of hcv is necessary when calculating apparent thermal contact coefcient he. The surface temperatures of the specimens were measured by a thermography system, where special liquid giving the emissivity of 0.93 was spread on the plate surface. The magnitude of hcv was measured and found to be approximately 25 W / m2 K. In the next place, apparent thermal contact coefcient he is measured using the two plates, as illustrated in Fig. 2. Considering the heat balance around the two plates, the amount of heat transferred from the left specimen to the right one is calculated. It is equated to the product of he and the temperature difference T between the two plates. Thus, it can be shown how the apparent thermal contact coefcient he varies as the gap size g is increased. 3.3 Equation for Apparent Thermal Contact Coefcient. Figure 3 shows the relationship between apparent thermal contact coefcient he and the gap size g. With decrease of g, the magnitude of he rapidly increases. Its tendency is remarkable when g is less than 0.5 mm. From the experimental results, the following equation is suggested to calculate he, in which the heat ow through the small gap is assumed to be due to the combination of heat conduction by air, convection and radiation heat transfer. he = a

Evaluation of Heat Flow through Small Gap

3.1 Heat Flow through a Small Gap in a Bolted Joint. Equation 1 can also be applied for the case of two bodies being slightly in contact, i.e., with contact pressure of zero. On the other hand, a bolted joint involves the small gaps between the bolt body and the plate hole and around the clearance ank of engaged threads. The former clearance usually ranges from 1 mm to 3 mm. It is predicted that the heat ow through such clearances has signicant effects on the thermal behaviors of bolted joint. The amounts of the heat ow through small gap are measured in the next section. Based on the experimental results thus obtained, an equation for apparent thermal contact coefcient is proposed to quantitatively evaluate the heat ow through small gap. 3.2 Measurement of Apparent Thermal Contact Coefcient. The magnitude of apparent thermal contact coefcient, he, is measured using the test equipment consisting of two identical circular plates, shown in Fig. 2. A rubber heater of 60 W is attached to the plate that is xed on the base. The other plate is designed to slide with innitesimal movements to obtain the desired gap size g, with the help of a micrometer mechanism. In the preparatory experiments, coefcient of convection heat transfer hcv on the plate surface is measured using the former plate Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology

+ h cv + h r

aW / m K is thermal conductivity of air. hrW / m2 K is radiation heat coefcient that is calculated by the following equation 19:

Fig. 3 Relationship between apparent thermal contact coefcient and gap size

NOVEMBER 2005, Vol. 127 / 403

Downloaded 05 Feb 2008 to 129.5.128.34. Redistribution subject to ASME license or copyright; see http://www.asme.org/terms/Terms_Use.cfm

hr =

2 T2 1 + T2T1 + T2 1/1 + A1/A21/2 1

is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant. 1 and 2 are emmisivities of the mating surfaces, which are taken as 0.32 corresponding to structural carbon steel. T1,T2 K and A1,A2 m2 are the temperatures and areas of the mating surfaces, respectively. It is found from Fig. 3 that Eq. 2 favorably estimates the heat ow through small gap.

4 Numerical Analyses of Temperature and Stress Fields by Considering the Effects of Thermal Contact Coefcients
4.1 Interaction between Temperature and Stress Fields. When machinery or structural members are subjected to thermal load, the temperature and stress elds interact with each other. That is mainly because the assemblage of a structure is commonly done under room temperature. Thus, even if the parts or components of the structures are tightened with the prescribed bolt preloads, the thermal expansion due to heating or the shrinkage due to cooling causes the decrease or the increase of the bolt preloads. The change in the bolt preload varies the contact pressure at the interface, which leads to the variations of thermal contact coefcient hc. The variation of hc affects the temperature eld. In this manner the temperature and stress elds interact successively until the steady state has been established. 4.2 Finite Element Formulation Concerning Thermal Contact Coefcients. The effects of thermal contact coefcient hc and apparent thermal contact coefcient he are treated in the similar manner to the convection heat transfer as shown in the following. q = hca b or q = hea b 4
Fig. 4 Finite element model of a bolted joint subjected to thermal load M16

a and b represent the temperatures of the mating surfaces. It should be noted that when dealing with a very small gap, the upper limit of he is selected as the amount of hc for zero contact pressure calculated from Eq. 2.
4.3 Numerical Model and Numerical Procedures. Machinery and structural members exhibit complicated mechanical behaviors with time when subjected to thermal load, because of the interaction between the temperature and the stress elds. Besides the structural geometry and the way of heating or cooling, thermal properties of the materials composing the objective structure and the surface roughness have a great inuence on the mechanical behaviors. Since the primary purpose of the current study is to elucidate the fundamental mechanical behaviors under transient thermal load, a bolted joint with simple conguration is selected as an analytical object. Figure 4 shows the axisymmetric nite element model used here, where one thick plate is clamped with one bolt and the thread prole is assumed to be axisymmetric. In the analyses of the transient temperature eld, the time increment t is chosen as 10 s. The corresponding stress eld is also analyzed at each step using the calculated temperature distributions, and then the amount of thermal contact coefcient hc is updated for the next step. On the other hand, the magnitudes of apparent thermal contact coefcient he concerning the bolt hole and the clearance ank are kept constant. The stress eld is analyzed as an elastic contact problem 20 using the thermal strains t calculated from the following equation: t =

4.4 Analytical Conditions. The objective bolted joint is a thick cylinder of 64 mm height and 96 mm diameter clamped with a M16 bolt with coarse thread. The bolt hole diameter is 19 mm. The gap sizes around the bolt hole and the clearance ank are 1.5 mm and 0.1 mm, respectively. As the standard analytical condition, the initial bolt stress i is selected as 50 MPa and the surface roughness of arithmetic mean Ra is 3.2 m at each contact surface. The coefcient of convection heat transfer hcv at each surface of the bolted joint was set to be 35 W / m2 K from the results of the preparatory experiment. The objective bolted joint is uniformly heated from the outer surface of the fastened plate, as shown in Fig. 4. The intensity of the heat source is 100 W and its heating efciency is 96%. The magnitude of the efciency was obtained in the preparatory experiment, by comparing the measured and the numerical results of the plate temperatures. Structural carbon steel S45C is mainly treated here and stainless steel SUS304 and aluminum alloy A2024 are also chosen for comparison to examine the effects of thermal properties. These three materials are equivalent to AISI 1045, ASTM S30400, and ASTM 2024, respectively. In Table 1, thermal properties and elastic moduli consisting of the bolted joint are tabulated, all of which are assumed to be temperature independent. Coefcient of friction is set to be 0.2 in each case.

Numerical Results

5.1 Temperature Distributions of the Bolted Joint. Figure 5 illustrates how the material properties of the bolted joint affect the temperature distributions. The analyses were conducted under the standard condition. The heating period is 60 min. In the case of
Table 1 Material properties of the objective bolted joint

i i=1

i1

is coefcient of linear expansion. i and i1 represent the nodal temperatures at the present and the former steps.
404 / Vol. 127, NOVEMBER 2005 Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded 05 Feb 2008 to 129.5.128.34. Redistribution subject to ASME license or copyright; see http://www.asme.org/terms/Terms_Use.cfm

Fig. 5 Comparison of temperature distribution patterns

the material with higher thermal conductivity, high bolt temperatures are observed as a necessary consequence. The heat supplied at the outer surface of the plate ows into the bolt through the gap existing around the bolt hole and also through the nut loaded surface, the engaged threads and the loaded surface of bolt head. The former case is evaluated by means of apparent thermal contact coefcient he and the latter case is by thermal contact coefcient hc. Since hc is larger with higher thermal conductivity, referring to Eq. 1, it follows that the high thermal conductivity and high values of he and hc are the major sources of rather uniform temperature distributions in the bolted joint. 5.2 Variations of Bolt Preloads With Time. Figure 6 shows the variations of the bolt stress with time. The ordinate represents the present bolt stress b divided by the initial bolt stress i. In the case of stainless steel SUS304, the highest increasing rate is observed. That is, when the bolted joint is composed of the material with low thermal conductivity, a small amount of heat ows into the bolt. Consequently, the elongation of bolt-nut connection becomes smaller than that of the plate, thus leading to larger increase in the bolt stress. 5.3 Effects of Thermal Properties and Surface Roughness. The effects of thermal properties of the materials and the surface roughness are evaluated using carbon steel S45C. First, the effects of coefcient of linear expansion are examined. The standard value is chosen as 1.2 105 referring to Table 1. The values of are tentatively changed between the bolt-nut and the plate materials, considering that the chemical composition of carbon steels might slightly vary due to the difference in the manufacturing process, etc., even if each component of the objective bolted joint is made of the same material. As shown in Fig. 7, only a slight difference in remarkably changes the variation patterns of bolt stress with time. In every case, the bolt stress increases during the short period after the start of heating. The increase of the bolt

Fig. 7 Effects of coefcient of linear expansion on the bolt stress variations

stress in the early stage is simply caused by the expansion of the plate. Then, the bolt stress starts to decrease as the heat ows into the bolt-nut connection, if the coefcient of the bolt-nut connection is larger than that of the plate. It is worth noting that this phenomenon could also occur in other common engineering materials because of the aforementioned reason. In Fig. 8, the effects of the surface roughness of arithmetic mean Ra are examined, in which the magnitudes of Ra are supposed to be identical at all contact surfaces. As Ra is increased, thermal contact coefcient hc decreases as predicted from Eq. 1. The decrease of hc lowers the bolt temperature and then the bolt stress increases. Figure 9 shows the inuences of the heat source intensity. The increase of the bolt stress from the initial value is roughly proportional to the magnitude of the supplied heat. Accordingly, it is concluded that the most critical factor affecting the mechanical behaviors of the bolted joint subjected to thermal load is the coefcient of linear expansion followed by the thermal conductivity.

6 Comparison between Numerical and Experimental Results

6.1 Method of Experimentation. A bolted joint made of carbon steel S45C having the same conguration as the FE model is used to verify the numerical procedure. A rubber heater of 100 W is attached to the outer surface of the plate. Its heating efciency is 96% as already mentioned. The temperatures of the bolt body and the top surface of the nut are measured using thermocouples. Axial bolt strains are measured with the strain gauges for high

Fig. 6 Variations of bolt stress with time for common engineering materials

Fig. 8 Effects of surface roughness of the mating surfaces on the bolt stress variations

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology

NOVEMBER 2005, Vol. 127 / 405

Downloaded 05 Feb 2008 to 129.5.128.34. Redistribution subject to ASME license or copyright; see http://www.asme.org/terms/Terms_Use.cfm

Fig. 9 Effects of heat source intensity on the bolt stress variations

Fig. 11 Effects of initial bolt stress on the bolt stress variations with time

temperature use. Two-active gauge method is adopted. The relationship between the temperature of bolt body and the apparent strain due to the temperature increase was measured a priori, and the actual strain was obtained by subtracting the apparent strain from the measured strain. 6.2 Variations of Temperature and Bolt Stress With Time. Bolt temperatures obtained numerically and experimentally are compared at the selected points shown in Fig. 10. The numerical results agree fairly well with the experimental ones. In Fig. 11, the variations of bolt stress with time are compared between the numerical and the experimental results. When the initial bolt stress i is large, the variation of bolt stress is small. That is because the larger value of i yields higher contact pressure leading to higher thermal contact coefcient hc, thus producing a rather uniform temperature distribution in the bolted joint. It is also shown that during the short period after the start of heating, the bolt stress increases and reaches a peak, and then it begins to decrease. It is considered that this particular mechanical behavior is possibly traced to the slight difference in the coefcient of linear expansion between the bolt-nut and the plate materials, as predicted from the results given in Fig. 7. Taking the above considerations into account, the amounts of in the numerical calculations are assumed to be 1.2 105 for the bolt-nut connection and 1.15 105 for the plate. Although a slight deviation is observed for the case of i = 210 MPa, the numerical results compare favorably with the experimental ones. It can therefore be concluded that the numerical approach proposed in this study is valid for evaluating the temperature and stress elds of contact structures subjected to thermal load.

Conclusions
1 A numerical approach for accurately evaluating the thermal and mechanical behaviors of the bolted joint is proposed, in which the effects of thermal contact resistance are taken into account. 2 A simple equation for estimating apparent thermal contact coefcient is proposed in order to calculate the amount of heat ow through small gap. 3 Only a slight difference in the coefcient of linear expansion between the bolt-nut and the plate materials may signicantly increase or decrease the bolt stress in a bolted joint subjected to thermal load. 4 In a bolted joint made of the material of low thermal conductivity, the bolt stress tends to vary signicantly from the initial value under transient thermal load. 5 The validity of the proposed numerical approach has been demonstrated by experiments, where the variations of the bolt stress with time are compared to the measured values using strain gauges for high temperature use.

Nomenclature
g 1 , 2 a , b i , i1 A1 , A2 hc h cv he hr Hv p q Ra T1 , T2 T t a b i areas of mating surfaces m2 thermal contact coefcient W / m2 K convection heat transfer coefcient W / m2 K apparent thermal contact coefcient W / m2 K radiation heat transfer coefcient W / m2 K Vickers hardness apparent contact pressure MPa heat ux W / m2 surface roughness of arithmetic mean m temperatures of mating surfaces K coefcient of linear expansion 1/K temperature difference between plates K time increment s gap size between mating surfaces m emissivities of mating surfaces temperatures of mating surfaces K nodal temperatures at present and former steps K thermal conductivity W/mK thermal conductivity of air W/mK Stefan-Boltzmann constant W / m2 K4 bolt stress MPa initial bolt stress MPa

Fig. 10 Variations of the temperatures of selected points of bolted joint with time

References
1 Sawa, T., Hirose, T., and Kumano, H., 1993, Behavior of Pipe Flange Con-

406 / Vol. 127, NOVEMBER 2005

Transactions of the ASME

Downloaded 05 Feb 2008 to 129.5.128.34. Redistribution subject to ASME license or copyright; see http://www.asme.org/terms/Terms_Use.cfm

2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10

nection in Transient Temperature Field, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 1152, pp. 142146. Brown, W., Derenne, M., and Bouzid, A. H., 2002, Determination of Gasket Stress Levels During Thermal Transients, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 433, pp. 2128. Kumano, H., Sawa, T., and Hirose, H., 1994, Mechanical Behavior of Bolted Joint Under Steady Heat Conduction, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 1161, pp. 4248. Bouzid, A. H., Nechache, A., and Brown, W., 2002, The effect of Steady State Thermal Loading on the Deections of a Flanged Joint With a Cover Plate, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 433, pp. 153162. Kawamura, H., Sawa, T., and Yoneno, M., 2001, The Sealing Performance of Box-Shaped Bolted Flanged Joints Using Silicone Sealant Instead of Formed Gasket Under Steady Temperature State, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 416, pp. 179184. Brown, W., Derenne, M., and Bouzid, A. H., 2001, Determination of Gasket Stress Levels During High Temperature Flange Operation, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 416, pp. 185192. Lassesen, L., and Woll, F., 2002, Compact Flanged Connections for High Temperature Applications, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 433, pp. 105114. Scliffet, L., et al., 2002, Simulation of the Pressure Equipment Behavior Under Thermal Loading Sealing Application, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 433, pp. 6774. Mueller, R., Payne, J. R., and Derenne, M., 2001, On Testing Protocols for Qualifying Flexible Graphite Based Gaskets for High Temperature Petrochemical Services, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 416, pp. 126. Aron, W. K., and Colombo, G., 1963, Controlling Factors of Thermal Con-

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

ductance Across Bolted Joints in a Vacuum Environment, ASME Paper, 63W-196. Clausing, A. M., and Chao, B. T., 1965, Thermal Contact Resistance in Vacuum Environment, HTD Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 872, pp. 243251. Clausing, A. M., 1966, Heat Transfer at the Interface of Dissimilar Metals the Inuence of Thermal Strain, Int. J. Heat Mass Transfer, 9, pp. 791801. Fletcher, L. S., et al., 1989, Heat Transfer Through Bolted and Riveted Joints, HTD Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 123, pp. 107115. Lee, S., et al., 1993, Analytical Modeling of Thermal Resistance in Bolted Joints, HTD Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 263, pp. 115122. Park, C. J., and Kaminski, D. A., 1997, Contact Area and Thermal Contact Resistance in an Ideal Bolted Joint: Part 1, HTD Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 356, pp. 8997. Park, C. J., and Kaminski, D. A., 1997, Contact Area and Thermal Contact Resistance in an Ideal Bolted Joint: Part 2, HTD Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 356, pp. 99108. Fukuoka, T., and Xu, Q., 1999, Evaluations of Thermal Contact Resistance on an Atmospheric Environment, PVP Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 382, pp. 145 151. Fukuoka, T., and Xu, Q., 2002, Finite Element Simulation of the Tightening Process of Bolted Joint With a Bolt Heater, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 1244, pp. 457464. Holman, J. P., 1997, Heat Transfer, 8th ed., McGraw-Hall, New York, pp. 651652. Fukuoka, T., 1997, Evaluation of the Method for Lowering Stress Concentration at the Thread Root of Bolted Joints With Modications of Nut Shape, ASME J. Pressure Vessel Technol., 1191, pp. 19.

Journal of Pressure Vessel Technology

NOVEMBER 2005, Vol. 127 / 407

Downloaded 05 Feb 2008 to 129.5.128.34. Redistribution subject to ASME license or copyright; see http://www.asme.org/terms/Terms_Use.cfm