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HOME > TECHNOLOGIES > FASTENERS > UNDERSTANDING THE NUT FACTOR IN THREADED-FASTENER TORQUE-TENSION RELATIONSHIP
UnderstandingtheNutFactorinThreadedFastener
TorqueTensionRelationship
Engineersuseanutfactortorelateaboltsinstallationtorquetothetensionon
it.Buttheyneedtounderstandthefrictionrelatedvariablesthatcontributeto
thenutfactortoaccuratelydesignboltedjoints.
StephenMraz|MachineDesign
TWEET
Aug18,2009
Article
ReplacingMetalwithPlastic
ByJeffKerns
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Authoredby:
DavidArcher
President
ArchetypeFastenersLLC
Orion,Mich.
EditedbyJessicaShapiro
jessica.shapiro@penton.com
KeyPoints:
Theexperimentallydeterminednutfactor,K,consolidatesthefrictioneffectson
threadedfastenersystems.
Anutfactordeterminedforonefastenergeometryisvalidforfastenersofsimilar
geometrybutdifferentdiameters.
Testingjointprototypeshighlightsfastenerinteractionsandpointsoutdesignflaws.
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"HowTightisRight?"MACHINEDESIGN,August23,2001
Measuringtorquewheninstallingthreadedfastenersisthebestindicatoroffuturejoint
performance,right?Actually,bolttensionisabetterperformanceindicator,but
measuringtorqueisfareasiertodo.
Downloadthisarticlein.PDFformat
Thisfiletypeincludeshighresolutiongraphicsandschematicswhenapplicable.
Bolttensioniscreatedwhena
boltelongatesduringtightening,
producingtheclamploadthat
preventsmovementbetweenjoint
members.Suchmovementis
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UnderstandingtheNutFactorinThreadedFastenerTorqueTensionRelationship|FastenerscontentfromMachineDesign
arguablythemostcommoncause
ofstructuraljointfailures.The
relationshipbetweenapplied
torqueandthetensioncreatedis
describedbytherelationship:
IoTEmerge:AnUpCloseand
PersonalExperience
ByJeffKerns
T=KDF
whereT=torque,K=nutfactor,
sometimescalledthefriction
factor,D=boltdiameter,andF=
bolttensiongeneratedduring
tightening.Thisexpressionis
oftencalledtheshortform
equation.
Whilethenutfactor,K,intheshortformequationis
experimentallydetermined,longformequationsuseseveral
variablestoquantifytheeffectsofthreadpitchandfrictionon
thetorquetensionrelationship.Thetracesshownherehelp
explaintheeffecteachvariablehasonbolttension.
ReadNow
Thenutfactor
Thenutfactor,K,consolidatesall
factorsthataffectclampload,manyofwhicharedifficulttoquantifywithoutmechanical
testing.Thenutfactoris,inreality,afudgefactor,notderivedfromengineering
principles,butarrivedatexperimentallytomaketheshortformequationvalid.
Varioustorquetensiontestscall
forcontrolledtensioningofa
threadedfastenerwhile
monitoringbothtorqueand
tension.Ataspecifiedtorqueor
tension,theknownvaluesforT,
D,andFareinsertedintothe
shortformequationtopermit
solvingforK.
Manyengineersuseasinglevalue
ofKacrossavarietyofthreaded
fastenerdiametersand
geometries.Thisapproachis
validtosomeextent,becausean
experimentallydeterminednut
factorisbydefinitionindependentoffastenerdiameter.Buttotrulyunderstandthe
factorsinvolved,itishelpfultocomparetheshortformequationwithatorquetension
relationshipderivedfromengineeringprinciples.
Torquetensiontestsonsimplifiedrepresentativejointslet
engineersdetermineanutfactorthatcandefinethetorque
tensionrelationshipforsimilarfastenerswithdifferent
diameters.However,sampletosamplevariationsinfrictioncan
makeresultsvarybyasmuchas10%.
Severaloftheseequationsarecommon,especiallyindesignsthatareprimarilyusedin
theE.U.Eachproducessimilarresultsandtakesthegeneralform:
T=FX
Thelongway
Threeofthemostwidelyusedlongformequationsareshownbelow.Thefirstequation
wasoriginallypublishedinJ.BickfordsIntroductiontotheDesignandBehaviorof
BoltedJoints,2ndEd.,1990,attributedtoN.Motosh,1976,andisusuallyreferredtoas
theMotoshequation.ThesecondequationisfromDIN946/VDI2230.Thethird
equationwaspublishedinISO16047andisattributedtoR.KellermanandH.Klein,
1955.
Tin=FP[(P/2)+(trt/cos)+(nrn)]
MA=FV[(0.159P)+(0.578d2G)+(DKmK/2)]
T=F[0.5(P+1.154thd2)/(1.154thP/d2)+(b(Do+
dh)/4)]
Thefollowingtabledefineseachvariableandshowsthat,althoughthelongform
equationsappearunrelated,theyareactuallydifferentformsofthesameequationand
yieldsimilarresults.Eachtermcalculatesalengthwhich,whenmultipliedbytheforce
generatedbybolttension,generatesamomentortorque.Theyrepresentreaction
torquesresistingtheinputtorqueandmustsumtoequalthatinputtorque.
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UnderstandingtheNutFactorinThreadedFastenerTorqueTensionRelationship|FastenerscontentfromMachineDesign
ThetermcontainingthevariablePistheclamploadonthreadpitchsinclinedplane.
Thesecondterminvolvingt,G,orthisresistingtorquecausedbythread
friction,andthelastusingn,K,orbisasimilarresistingtorquegeneratedby
frictionbetweenthenutorheadfaceandmatingsurface.Thevalueofeachterm
indicatestherelativeinfluenceofeachofthesefrictionfactors.
Forexample,applyingtheMotoshequationtoanM121.75angeheadscrewwith
frictioncoefficientstandnequalto0.15,showsthateachadditional1,000Nof
tensionproduces0.28Nmofreactiontorquefromclamploadonthethreadpitch,
0.93Nmofreactiontorquefromthreadfriction,and1.35Nmofreactiontorquefrom
frictionunderthenut.Totaltorqueisthen2.56Nm.Thesevaluesbreakoutto10.9%,
36.3%,and52.8%,respectively,ofthetotaltorque,confirmingthecommonlyheard
assertionthatonly10to15%oftheinputtorquegoestowardstretchingthebolt.
whereXrepresentsaseriesoftermsdetailingfastenergeometryandfrictioncoefficients.
Theserelationshipsareoftenreferredtoaslongformequations.(Threeofthemost
widelyusedlongformequationsarediscussedinthesidebar,Thelongway.)
Tounderstandhowthenutfactor
comparestothetermsinthe
longformequations,lets
considerthesocalledMotosh
equation:
Tin=FP[(P/2)+(trt/cos)
+(nrn)]whereTin=input
torque,FP=fastenerpreload,P=
threadpitch,t=friction
coefficientinthethreads,rt=
Theshortformequation,T=KDF,usinganexperimentally
derivednutfactor,K,givesslightlydifferentresultsthanthe
longformequationoverarangeoffastenersizesasshown
herefortwodifferentfrictionlevels.Resultsfallwithin5%of
eachother.ThevaluesforandKwerechosentonormalize
tracesforM12fasteners.
effectiveradiusofthreadcontact,
=halfangleofthethreadform
(30forUNandISOthreads),n
=frictioncoefficientunderthe
nutorhead,andrn=effective
radiusofheadcontact.
Theequationisessentiallythreeterms,eachofwhichrepresentsareactiontorque.The
threereactiontorquesmustsumtoequaltheinputtorque.Theseelements,both
dimensionalandfrictional,contributeinvaryingdegreestodeterminingthetorque
tensionrelationship,thepurposeofcalculatingnutfactor.
Theimpactofvariables
Sohowdodesigndecisionsinfluencethenutfactorthatdefinesthetorquetension
relationship?Specifically,engineersmaywonderhowvalidanutfactordeterminedfrom
atorquetensiontestononetypeoffastenerisforotherfastenergeometries.
Theshortformequationisstructuredsothatthefastenerdiameter,D,isseparatefrom
thenutfactor,K.Thisimpliesthatanutfactorderivedfromtorquetensiontestsonone
fastenerdiametercanbeusedtocalculatethetorquetensionrelationshipforfasteners
withadifferentdiameter.
Likethenutfactoritself,however,thisapproachisonlyanapproximation.Theaccuracy
ofusinganominalfastenerdiameter,D,toapplyaconstantnutfactoracrossarangeof
fastenersizesdependsontheextenttowhichfastenerdiameteraffectsreactiontorque.
Becausesomevariablesthataffectboltedjointdesignhavemoreofanimpactthan
others,itmakessensetoexaminethemindividually.
Clearanceholediameter,forinstance,isdirectlytiedtonominaldiameter.Thelongform
equationscalculatethatswappingaclosediametricalclearanceholewithone10%larger
leadstoa2%reductioninbolttensionforagiventorque.Enlargingthefastenerhead
bearingdiameterby35%,saybyreplacingastandardhexheadfastenerwithahex
flangehead,cutsbolttensionby8%foragiventorque.
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UnderstandingtheNutFactorinThreadedFastenerTorqueTensionRelationship|FastenerscontentfromMachineDesign
Bothbearingdiameterandholeclearancegenerallyscalelinearlywithboltdiameter,so
theirrelativeimportanceremainsthesameoverarangeoffastenerdiameters.However,
differentheadstylesorclearanceschangethereactiontorquefromunderheadfriction
becausethecontactradiuschanges.
Doublingthethreadfriction
coefficientonitsown,sayby
changingthefinishorremoving
lubricant,reducesbolttensionby
28%foragiventorque.Engineers
shouldnotethatthethreadand
underheadfrictioncoefficients
areoftenassumedtobeequalfor
convenienceintestsetupsand
calculations.ISO16047estimates
thatthisassumptioncanleadto
errorsof1to2%.
Torquetensiontestsonprototypejoints,likethisoneonasix
boltpattern,canhighlightdesignproblemsinjointdesign.In
thiscase,variationsofupto60%fromsampletosample
indicatedthatthejointgeometrywasmagnifyingtheeffectsof
imperfectcontactbetweenfastenerandbearingsurface.
Threadpitchtendstobemore
independentofnominaldiameter
thantheothervariables.
Increasingjustthreadpitchby40%cutstension5%foragiventorque.However,the
reactiontorquetermcontainingthethreadpitch,PP/2doesnotcontainafriction
coefficient.Therefore,asfastenerdiameterand,consequently,frictionincrease,the
relativeimportanceofthreadpitchfalls.
Motosh DIN/VDI
ISO
16047
Description
Tin
MA
Inputtorque
FP
FV
Fastenerpreload
ortension
Threadpitch
rn
DKm/2
(Do+
Effectiveradiusof
headcontact
Coefficientof
frictionunderhead
t.
th
Coefficientof
frictioninthreads
d2 /2
Effectiveradiusof
threadcontact
(halfthethread
pitchdiameter)
rt
dh )/4
d2 /2
Halfangleof
threadform(30
forUNandISO
threads)
Thereisamaximumdeviationof4.2%betweentheresultsoftheshortandlongform
equationsforstandardpitch,metric,hexheadcapscrewswithconstantandequal
coefficientsoffriction.Asfrictioncoefficientsincrease,thereslesserrorinassumingthe
nutfactorvariesdirectlywithnominaldiameterbecausetheimpactofthreadpitch,the
mostindependentvariable,falls.
So,ifallelseisheldconstant,itsreasonabletoapplyanutfactorcalculatedatone
fastenerdiameteracrossarangeoffastenersizes.Forbestresults,engineersshouldbase
testingontheweightedmeandiameterofthefastenersforwhichthenutfactorwillbe
used.
Manyengineersfinditexpedienttoapplyasinglenutfactoracrossevengreaterfastener
ranges,suchasthosewithdifferentheadstylesorclearancediameters.Applyingthenut
factortojointswheregeometricvariablesotherthannominaldiametersarechanging
causestheshortformequationresultstodifferfromthelongformresultsbyupto15%.
Longorshort?
Sogivenallthediscussionaboutwhichvariablesimpactthenutfactorandwhenitis
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UnderstandingtheNutFactorinThreadedFastenerTorqueTensionRelationship|FastenerscontentfromMachineDesign
reasonabletouseaconstantnutfactoracrossarangeoffasteners,itmayseemasifthe
longformequationsgetengineersclosertotherightanswerthankstotheirfundamental
correctness.However,longformequations,evenwhenderivedfromengineering
principles,useassumptionsandapproximationsthatmaymakethemnomorecorrect
thananequationusinganexperimentallyderivednutfactor.
Thepotentialerrorsinbothtypesofequationspalecomparedtothevariationsinreal
worldjoints.Benchtoptorquetensiontestingshowsapproximately10%variationswithin
samplesevenwhenallfastenersandbearingmaterialsarethesame.Accordingtoboth
shortandlongformequations,thereshouldbenovariationatall.Frictioncoefficients
seemtovaryfromsampletosample.
Thesituationisevenworseinproductionrepresentativejoints.Oneinjointtorque
tensiontestwithbolttensionmeasuredinrealtimeusingultrasonicpulseecho
techniquesrevealedvariationsinherentinhowcomponentsfittogether.Asixboltpattern
magnifiedtheeffectsofimperfectcontactbetweenboltsandthebearingsurfaceand
produceda60%sampletosamplevariationbecausebothgeometricandfriction
variableswerechangingoverthesampleset.
Thebottomlineisthatneitherthenutfactornorthelongformequationsfriction
coefficientscanbereliablyestablishedusingreferencetables.Onlytestingaccurately
determinesfrictionconditions.Aswehaveseen,thesearetoosensitivetocomponentand
assemblyvariationtobedeterminedbyanalysisalone.
Testingreliablyconvertsinputtorquetoinducedtension,lettingengineersdetermine
meanfrictioncoefficientsornutfactorsandthedistributionsaboutthosemeans.Tests
mayalsohelpengineersidentifyinherentshortcomingsinjointsthatneedtoberevisedto
makethemmorereliable.
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