COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN OF BOLTS

1
John A. Akpobi and
2
A.A. Uh!"#h!
1
Production Engineering Department, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
2
Mechanica Engineering Department, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria.
1
E$ai%& a%'a()*ohni!+(ahoo.,o$
ABSTRACT
This work presents computer aided design software for the design of bolt used in joints. It was developed
using Microsofts Visual Basic object oriented programming techniques The software was incorporated with
graphical features to enable a visual presentation of solutions to problems. The software was then tested using a
number of benchmark e!amples. The results show that the software is highl" accurate fle!ible and efficient..
-!('o"d)& Computer!aided!design, "ot oading, o"#ects oriented programming, $oder"erg pots, separation ine.
1. INTRODUCTION
Bots are machine eements %hich are used in hoding together machine parts. &hey are usuay empoyed
as fasteners and are fre'uenty encountered in machines.
(hen in use, they are su"#ected to stresses %hich arise from e)terna oads, temperature, and pressure
changes. Design for "ots re'uires that the "ots are safey oaded to prevent faiure %hie in use.
* ot of compe) computations are needed in the design of "ots. &hus there is the need to design and
deveop soft%are that %i provide accurate and easy to interpret soutions to the designers.
&he soft%are deveoped in this %or+, is user!friendy and can hande a variety of possi"e pro"ems in "ot
design.
,n designing the agorithm for this soft%are, the foo%ing genera procedures for anay-ing "ots %ere considered.
Determination of the area
Determination of the defection and defection per unit oad for "ot and mem"ers
Determination of the resutant oad and aso oad re'uired for separation to occur
Determination of the appied tor'ue
Determination of the initia tension
Determination of the impact stress %hen the "ot is su"#ected to impact oads
Determination of the re'uired height of nut. Determination of the mean and varia"e stresses for "ots under
fuctuating oad and chec+ing for safety of oading.
Bot faiure anaysis using $oder"erg pots.
1
,n the area of deveoping soft%are for machine design, very itte documented research e)ists. $ome of these
documented machine design soft%are incude the %or+s of *+po"i.and *rdey /20021, %ho %or+ed on machine
vi"rations design, and, 2om"o. and *detona /200314 %ho %or+ed on "ets and pueys. 5o%ever, efforts have "een
made recenty to deveop more soft%are for the design of machine eements, using o"#ect!oriented programming
Notation
# #rea $m
%
&
#
r
'oot area $m
%
&
b (eflection per unit load for bolt $m)*&
d *ominal bolt diameter $m&
d
r
'oot diameter of thread $m&
+ ,oungs Modulus $*)m
%
&
f -o.efficient of thread co.efficient
f
c
-o.efficient of collar co.efficient
/ /orce caused b" impact $*&
h 0eight of nut $m&
1
f
2tress correction factor
3 3ength $m&
m (eflection per unit load for members $m)*&
* 2afet" factor
r
c
-ollar friction radius $m&
r
m
Mean thread radius $m&
2
r
+ndurance load $*&
2
"
,ield point $*&
T
c
-ollar torque $*m&
T
f
Thread torque $*m&
4 +nerg" of Impact $5&
6 'esultant load $*&
6
7
Initial Tightening 3oad $*&
6
%
+!ternal load $*&
8 0eli! angle $radian&
9 :ne.half of thread angle
; (eformation)deflection $m&
<
c
-ollar torque $*m&
<
m
Ma!imum shear stress $*)m
%
&
=
7
Initial temperature $1&
=
%
/inal temperature $1&
> 3inear e!pansion coefficient $)1&
2
techni'ue. $ome of these %or+s addressed the design of. some types of gears /heica, and spur1 see /*+po"i, and
*iriohuodion, 20064 *+po"i, 17781, design of 9oing Bearings /*+po"i, 20011, and :y%hees / *+po"i and
;a%ani, 200<1.
(e %ish to state that to the "est of our +no%edge there is no documented computer!aided design %or+ on "ots.
&he authors %oud have conducted a comparative assessment of our resuts %ith any that %as avaia"e. But the resuts
presented here are highy accurate as they %ere soutions to "ench mar+ e)ampes and pro"ems adopted from / 5a, et.
a., 20011.
2. DESIGN OF SOFT.ARE MODEL
,n deveoping this soft%are, %e considered the reevant design e'uations for "ot. &hese e'uations formed
the fundamenta principes used in designing the soft%are. &he soft%are presented in this %or+ %as compied using
the o"#ect!oriented programming techni'ues of =isua Basic <.0 /Microsoft ,nc., 17784 >otterfried, 20021. &he
design of "ots is %e treated in some Machine Design te)ts /5a, et a, 20034 $higey and Misch+e, 20014 ?hurmi
and >upta, 20021
&hese fundamenta formuae are presented as foo%s.
2.1. D!/%!,0ion
&his is ength added or removed %hen e)pansion or contraction ta+es pace as temperature increases or
drops, or %hen pressure or force increases or decreases.
,t@s vaue may "e found using any of the t%o e'uations sho%n "eo%.
/3
#+

/11
( )
2 1
3 /21
2.2. Ini0ia% bo%0 Load
&his arises as a resut of the tightening of the "ots "efore they are used. &his tightening may "e
done in any of three %ays.
By an e)perienced mechanic
By using a tor'ue %rench
By using a theoretica e)pression
2.2.1 Estimation of oad %hen tightened "y a mechanic
1
6 1d 1%here ? is a constant greater than 10000 "ut ess than 1<0001 /31
2.2.2 *ppro)imation of oad %hen a %rench is used
1
0.2
T
6
d
/A1
3
2.2.2 Cacuation using the theoretica e)pression
( )
( )
1

tan B cos
1 tan B cos
n
m c c
n
T
6
f
r f r
f

1 _ +
+
1

1
, ]
/61
2.2. R!)#%0an0 %oad
&he 9esutant oad is defined as foo%s.
1 2
m
6 6 6
m b
_
+

+
,
/<1
2.3. I$pa,0 En!"(
&his resuts %hen "ots are su"#ected to suddeny appied impact oad. &his energy has to "e
a"sor"ed "y the "ots.
1
2
4 / /C1
,mpact force, : may "e derived using any of the t%o e'uations "eo%.
24
/

/81
or
2#+4
/
3
/71
2.4. App%i!d 0ih0!nin 0o"5#!
&%o types of tor'ue e)ist! thread and coar tor'ue. &he e'uations for determining them are given
"eo%
&hread tor'ue,
( )
1
tan cos
1
cos
m
f
r f
T 6
ftan

_

+

, ,
/101
Coar tor'ue,
1 c c c
T 6 f r /111
&ota tor'ue,
f c
T T T +
/121
2.6. Ind#,!d S0"!)) in 0!n)ion bo%0)
&his is a resut of torsiona shear com"ined %ith resutant a)ia "ot oad. &he e'uation for
cacuating the ma)imum shear stress in a tension "ot is given "y.
A
2
2
1
3
1<
2
f
m
r
r
T
6
#
d

_
_
+


,
,
/131
2.7. R!5#i"!d h!ih0 o/ n#0
&his is estimated using the assumption that each turn of the thread supports an e'ua part of the
resutant oad. ,n other %ords, the strength of the "ot in tension is e'ua to the strength of the threads in
shear.
R!)#%0an0 %oad /o" bo%0 in 0!n)ion 8
2
1
A
r t
d s /1A1
1%here st is the strength of the "ot in tension.1
R!)#%0an0 %oad /o" 0h"!ad) in )h!a"8
r s
d s h /161
1%here ss is the strength of the threads in shear1
9!ih0 o/ n#0:
1
2
r
h d /1<1
2.;. S!pa"a0ion G"aph
&he cacuation of the resutant oad %i determine if separation %i occur or not in the "ot
assem"y. &he determination of %hether separation %i occur or not may aso "e determined graphicay.
&he graph of resutant oad vs e)terna oad is sho%n ater in this report.
2.<. Sod!"b!" .o"kin )0"!)) Dia"a$
&his diagram provides a graphica means of determining %hether the "ot is safey oaded. ,n "ot
oading design too, it is usefu in determining the conditions in a "ot %hen su"#ected to fuctuating oads.
,n the anaysis the endurance and yied points %ere ta+en into consideration.
&he foo%ing e'uations %ere used.
&est varia"e stress? 1f ! 2v /1C1
/%here 1f is the stress correction factor and 2v varia"e stress1
Mean $tressD
m
r
6
#
/181
/%here 6m is the mean oad1
2. P"o"a$ D!),"ip0ion
&he program %as designed and impemented using Microsoft =isua "asic o"#ect!oriented
programming anguage. &he structure is made up of three stages /input, anaysis, and output1.
2.1. Inp#0 S0a!
,n this stage, the user enters the re'uired information a"out the machine vi"ration in the form of
data into the desired te)t"o)es in the form o"#ect inter phase.
6
2.2. Ana%()i)
*fter entering the re'uired data, the soft%are computes a the parameters re'uired to design the
"ot propery, oad under the given operating conditions. Depending on the speed of the processor, the
computations ta+e 1second or ess to conduct.
2.2. O#0p#0
&he soft%are %as deveoped in such a %ay as to produce design outputs numericay and graphicay.
parameters considered. Descriptive notes of the resut are aso provided.
ALGORIT9M
&he agorithm used in deveoping the codes for the soft%are are presented as foo%s.
I/ :orm Defection. ;oadD &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. ;ength, *rea, Eoung@s Moduus, :orce, ;inear e)pansion co!efficient, ,nitia and fina
temperature.
Co$p#0!& Defection of "ot /either using 5oo+e@s 9eationship or ;inear E)pansivity1 using e'uation 1 or 2
I/ :orm *rea. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. ;ength, Diameter /,nterna and e)terna for pressure vesses1, Num"er of "ots, thic+ness,
cross sectiona area of "ot.
Co$p#0!& *rea of circuar vesse, or circuar id %ith fange.
End I/
I/ Fo"$ 5eight1. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0& +no%n parameters. 9oot thread diameter, $hear stress, tension stress
Co$p#0!& 5eight of nut, Bot resutant oad, thread resutant oad, using e'uation 1A, 16 and 1<.
End I/
I/ Fo"$ 9esutant. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. ,nitia oad, e)terna oad, defection per unit oad for "ot, defection per unit oad for
mem"ers.
Co$p#0!& 9esutant oad, using e'uation <
G!n!"a0! $eparation Pot of E)terna oad against 9esutant oad.
I/ /o"$ ;oad. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. ,nitia oad, num"er of "ots, ,nitia and fina temperatures, Pressure, Eoungs Moduus for
"ot and mem"ers, ;inear e)pansion co!efficient for "ot and mem"ers, ;ength of "ot and mem"ers, *rea of "ot
and mem"ers, ,nterna and e)terna diameters, Condition of vesse! temperature and pressure.
<
Co$p#0!& Defection of "ot and mem"ers, Defection per unit oad for "ot and mem"ers, ne% initia oad, e)terna
oad, resutant oad.
End I/
I/ Fo"$ ,mpact. ;oad D &rue 0h!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. :orce of impact, ,mpact Energy, defection, *rea, ;ength, and Eoung@s Moduus.
Co$p#0!& :orce of impact, impact energy, and ,mpact stress, using e'uation C, 8, and 7.
End I/
I/ Fo"$ $oder"erg. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. Defection per oad for "ot and mem"ers, Ma)imum e)terna oad, Correction factor,
safety factor, root thread area, endurance imit and yied point.
Co$p#0!& ,nitia oad, mean resutant oad, =aria"e oad, mean stress, *ctua varia"e stress, test endurance and
yied stress, using e'uation 1C and 18.
G!n!"a0! (or+ing $tress diagram of "ot under fuctuating oad.
I/ Fo"$ &ension. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. Constant, ?, Nomina "ot diameter, appied tightening tor'ue, mean thread radius, thread
and coar friction coefficients, coar friction radius, hei) ange, one!haf thread ange.
Co$p#0!& ,nitia tightening oad, using e'uation 3, A or 6.
End I/
I/ /o"$ $tress. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. ,nitia tightening oad, &hread tor'ue, root area, thread root diameter
Co$p#0!& Ma)imum induced shear stress, using e'uation 13
End I/
I/ /o"$ To"5#!. ;oad D &rue Th!n
Inp#0 +no%n parameters. ,nitia oad, mean radius, thread and coar friction coefficient, coar friction radius, hei)
ange, one!haf thread ange, ;ead.
Co$p#0!& 5ei) ange, &hread tor'ue, Coar tor'ue, and &ota tor'ue, using e'uation 10, 11 and 12.
End I/
3. E=AMPLES TO ILLUSTRATE T9E USE OF T9E SOFT.ARE
(e consider in this section "enchmar+ E)ampes /5a, et. a., 20021, to iustrate the accuracy and
efficiency of the soft%are.
E>a$p%! 1
C
* "ot is used to fasten t%o mem"ers. &he mem"ers and the "ot are of the same materia and have
the same cross sectiona area. Determine %hat e)terna oad (2 %i cause separation to occur if the initia
tightening oad (1 is 30+N.
So%#0ion
:n inputing the following values@ 67?ABk* m?7 b?7 $since the" have the same area and are of
the same material& we obtain the value of the +!ternal load 6% and 'esultant load 6. The graph is also
shown. 0int@ 6% ? 6 ? CBBBB*.
&he screenshots of soutions o"tained are sho%n in :igures 1 and 2.
/igure 7@ 2creenshot of the results for +!ample 7.
8
/igure %@ 2creenshot of the graph of 6 Vs 6% for e!ample 7
E>a$p%! 2
&he id of a cast iron pressure vesse is hed in pace "y ten M12 stee "ots having an initia tightening oad
of 22+N %hen the vesse is at 21FC and the initia pressure is atmospheric. Determine the oad in each "ot /a1 if the
pressure is increased to 1.AMPa, /"1 if the vesse is heated to 121FC %ith atmospheric interna pressure, /c1 if the
vesse is heated to 121FC %ith an interna pressure of 1.AMPa.
E for steeD20C>Pa, for cast ironD83>Pa, for -incD83>Pa
G for stee D11.7 ) 10
!<
B?, for cast ironD 10)10
!<
B?, for -incD32)10
!<
B?. ;ength of "otD6<.Amm, of cast ironD60mm,
of -incD<.Amm. Diameter of idDA00mm, of id %ith fangeD660mm.
$oution
:irst %e find the area of the :ange and Hinc gas+et per "ot.
Inp#0& No of "otsD104 Ma) diameterD660mmD0.66m4 Min diameterDA00mmD0.Am4 fange e)tensionD/660!
A001B2DC6mmD0.0C6m4 Cross sectiona area /C$*1 of M12 "otD0.113)10
!3
m
2
O#0p#0& C$*D0.0111m
2
&he screenshots of soutions o"tained are sho%n in :igures 6!8.
7
/igure A@ 2creenshot of area calculation for +!ample %
Ne)t, %e find the ne% oad given the first condition.
,nput.
;for -incD<.AmmD<.A)10
!3
m4 ;for cast ironD60mmD6)10
!2
m4 ;for steeD6<.AmmD6.<A)10
!2
m4 * of -inc and cast
ironD0.0111m
2
: * of "otD 0.113)10
!3
m
2
. &he vaues are inputted one at a time to o"tain their respective defection
per oad.
Iutput.
m?C.7%7DEF!7B
.77
mBN
Ne)t, %e find the defBoad for "ot.
Iutput.
b?%.F777EF!7B
.G
mBN
>iven the pressure increase %e find the e)terna oad on the "ot.
,nput.
Diameter of idD0.Am4 pressureD1.A)10
<
NBm
2
4 num"er of "otsD10
Iutput.
6%?7DHGG.GCN
*nd, the resutant oad ( may no% "e found.
6?%%FAH.DEN
10
/igure F@ 2creenshot of computation of e!ternal load and resultant load for +!ample %
/"1 (ith temperature increased to 121JC, defection %i change. &o find the ne% defection4
,nput.
K1D21JC, K2D121JC, Gfor -incD32)10
!<
B?, Gfor C,D10)10
!<
B?, Gfor steeD11.7)10
!<
B?
Iutput.
L-incD2.0A8)10
!6
m4 LC,D6)10
!6
m4 L"otD<.C12)10
!6
m
By activating the icon for the ne% conditions, the ne% ,nitia oad is o"tained as %AACB.C%BAC*.
11
/igure H. 2creenshot of the computation of the new initial load for +!ample %.
(ith pressure increased to 1.AMPa, the resutant "ot oad, (2 is e'ua to %A.DGCFk*.
/igure C@ 2creenshot of the result for the new resultant load for +!ample %.
12
E>a$p%! 2
&he e)terna oad appied to a "oted #oint fuctuates "et%een -ero and C<00N. &he ratio of the meters defection
per N of oad for the "ot to that for the mem"ers is A. &he endurance imit $r of the "ot materia in reversed a)ia
oading is 208MPa and the yied point is 3A<MPa. &he root area of the thread is 8A.3mm
2
. *ssume a stress
concentration factor, ?fD2.6 and a factor of safety ND2 "ased on the yied strength of the materia. ,n this case, ?f
incudes surface and si-e effects. Determine4
/a1 &he minimum initia tightening oad that must "e appied to prevent separation.
/"1 &he average, $m, and the varia"e stress range $v, "ased on the initia oad as determined in part /a1.
/c1 Pot the $oder"erg (or+ing stress diagram for th
/d1 e materia and determine if the "ot is safey oaded "ased on an initia oad as determined in part /a1.
So%#0ion
Inp#0
(eflection for members?7(eflection for bolt ?F 'ange of fluctuating load?B to DCBB* 1f?%.H *?%#r?EF.A !
7B.Cm
%
2r?%BEMIa?%BE ! 7B
C
Ia 2"?AFCMIa?AFC ! 7B
C
O#0p#0
&he screenshots of soutions o"tained are sho%n in :igures C!8.
/igure D@ 2creenshot of the stress computation for +!ample A
13
/igure E@ 2creenshot for the 2oderberg Ilot for +!ample A
Minimum Initial tightening load? CBEB*
#verage 2tress 2m? CEFBIa
Variable stress range 2v? %%HAEHH%.DEDCCA7Ia
4. DISCUSSION
&he soft%are %as tested for this paper, using 3 different e)ampes in %hich the pro"ems of resutant oad,
tension, and tor'ue e. t .c. %ere anay-ed. &he resuts dispayed "y the soft%are depends on the pro"em definition
and provides the designer %ith e)act numerica vaues re'uired to effectivey design a the considerations in a
proper "ot oading system. &he soft%are aso provides graphica features for the resutant oad against e)terna oad
for any configuration.
:igure 1. $ho%s the resuts for E)ampe 1, namey. initia oad, defection of mem"ers, e)terna oad, defection of
the "ot, %hie in :igure 2, the graphica soution to e)ampe 1 is presented. :or various oading configuration it
sho%s that separation of the "ot from the "ot assem"y, a mechanica disaster, %i occur %hen the e)terna oad is
greater than the resutant oad, this occurs %hen the graph of the system crosses the fundamenta ine sho%ing
separation %hich has -ero intercept and a gradient of one. ,n :igure 3, the soft%are@s soution for the cross section
area and net area for the id and fange of area cacuation for E)ampe 2 is presented.

:or e)ampe <, the soft%are soutions dispays "oth numerica and graphica soutions that are highy accurate. ,n
:igure C, the soft%are@s soution for the initia, resutant, minimum, ma)imum, mean, varia"e oad, mean stress,
mean stress, actua varia"e stress, endurance stress and yied stress.
1A
:rom the graph in :igure 8, it is seen that the sum of the average and varia"e stress/the vertica pot1 is "eo% the
%or+ing stress ine. &herefore, the "ot is safey oaded.
&he soft%are can "e inter phased %ith Computer *ided Manufacture /C*D1
6. CONCLUSION
&he soft%are designed in this %or+ ena"es computer aided design for "ot oading to "e easiy carried out.
,t greaty reduces the computationa difficuties encountered in the accurate design such systems. * %ide range of
pro"ems can "e easiy soved using this soft%are. &he resuts o"tained in a cases %ere highy accurate. *so it is
important to note its fe)i"iity.
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th
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th
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16