Amro M.

Zaki
Sayed A. Nassar
Xianjie Yang
Department of Mechanical Engineering,
Fastening and Joining Research Institute,
Oakland University,
Rochester, MI 48309
Effect of Conical Angle and
Thread Pitch on the
Self-Loosening Performance of
Preloaded Countersunk-Head
Bolts
This paper investigates the effect of the countersunk conical angle and thread pitch on
the loosening performance of preloaded countersunk-head bolts that are subjected to
harmonic transverse loading. A nonlinear mathematical model is used to predict the loos-
ening performance. Cumulative differential loosening rotation of the bolt head is con-
verted to a gradual loss in the bolt tension and joint clamp load. Model prediction of the
self-loosening behavior is experimentally validated. [DOI: 10.1115/1.4005058]
Keywords: self-loosening, countersunk fasteners, conical angle, thread pitch
1 Introduction and Literature Survey
In many applications, it is critically important that the initial
level of fastener preload (clamp force) be sufcient for adequate
clamping of the joint; equally important is controlling the clamp
load decay over the life of the joint. In many cases, the clamp load
decay is caused by gradual self-loosening under dynamic service
loads.
Junker [1] investigated the self-loosening behavior of threaded
fasteners subjected to cyclic transverse excitation and concluded
that the loosening is more severe when the joint is subjected to
dynamic loads perpendicular to the thread axis (shear loading).
Tanaka et al. [2] later stated that in modeling the self-loosening
behavior, the eccentric load distribution on the threads when the
joint is subjected to shear loads should be taken into account.
Their simulation results showed that the loosening starts with a
slip between the threads of the bolt and the nut, followed by a slip
at the bearing surface. Pai and Hess [3] did an experimental inves-
tigation in which they concluded that it is not necessary to have a
complete slip between the contact surfaces in order to start the
self-loosening process. The slip starts at some regions and builds
up until a complete slip takes place. The model presented by
Zhang et al. [4] suggests that the micro-slip between the contact-
ing threads is initiated due to the variation in contact pressure
between the threads caused by the uneven bending moment.
Nassar and Housari [57] presented a mathematical model for
predicting the self-loosening behavior of hex head fasteners. The
model is based on the fact that when the bolt is subjected to a
bending moment, the bolt pivots on one side, and the frictional
forces on the opposite side is reduced. More recently, Nassar and
Yang [8] and Yang and Nassar [9] developed a nonlinear mathe-
matical model that took into account the 3D geometry of the
threads and various pressure distribution scenarios on the contact
surfaces under the bolt head and between engaged threads. This
work extends the work done by Yang and Nassar [9] and Zaki et
al. [10,11] to investigate the effect of the conical bolt head angle
and thread pitch on the loosening performance of fasteners with a
countersunk head conguration.
2 Formulation
Figure 1 shows a schematic of the bolted joint model developed
in Refs. [10,11], where the countersunk bolt threads are engaged
into a tapped hole in the bottom block. The upper block moves
transversely subjecting the bolt to cyclic shear loading while the
bottom plate is constrained. The model predicts the loosening rate
during the stage of self-loosening characterized by signicant
backing-off of the nut/bolt and rapid loss of clamping force. The
rolling friction between the clamped plates is negligible as the
proposed model describes the post-state of friction loss where the
friction between the clamped parts deteriorated to a negligible
value. The transverse load is carried entirely by the bolt and the
bolt shank does not contact the hole wall. The model is based on
the force and moment as well as the kinematic relationships dur-
ing the transverse motion of the upper plate. The angular equation
of motion is numerically integrated with a sufciently small time
step to provide the incremental loosening rotation of the bolt,
which is in turn correlated to the incremental drop in the bolt
tension using a MATLAB code.
The self-loosening model takes into account some simplifying
assumptions. First, it is assumed that the contact area under the
bolt head is small compared to the conical surface of the counter-
sunk head of the bolt. This is justied by the existence of manu-
facturing tolerances that permits 62 deg variation in the bolt head
cone angle [12]. Second, it is assumed that the bolt bending due to
the transverse excitation will cause the contact pressures between
the conical surfaces to be concentrated on two small areas,
namely, one small axisymetric angular area at the upper and one
at the bottom portions of the conical bolt head. This assumption is
based on the fact that those two contact areas had been visually
noticed during lab tests and appeared to have been subjected to
high contact stresses when sliding occurs between the conical
contact surfaces. This assumption was also validated using nite
element analysis (FEA) of the model taking into account the man-
ufacturing tolerances.
2.1 Condition for Self-Loosening. At the start of loosening
process, the torque components acting on the fastener are broken
down into two components. One component trying to loosen the
bolt; namely, the pitch torque component T
p
, while the thread
friction torque component T
t
and the bearing friction torque
Contributed by the Pressure Vessel and Piping Division of ASME for publication
in the JOURNAL OF PRESSURE VESSEL TECHNOLOGY. Manuscript received May 13, 2011;
nal manuscript received August 15, 2011; published online January 25, 2012.
Assoc. Editor: Maher Y. A. Younan.
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2012 by ASME
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component T
b
are maintaining the bolt from loosening. The
relationship among the three torque components at the start of
loosening is given by
J
p
_ x = T
p
T
b
T
t
_
(1)
where J
p
is the polar moment of inertia of the bolt cross section,
and _ x is the loosening angular acceleration of the bolt. A suf-
ciently large transverse shear force will lead to a decrease in the
bearing and thread friction torque components T
b
and T
t
,
respectively.
2.2 Countersunk-Head Bearing Friction Analysis. Figure 2
shows a schematic of the local Cartesian coordinate system used
in the analysis of the relative velocity of any point Q on the frus-
tum surface of the bolt under head with respect to the reference
point O. The velocity vector ~v of point Q is given by
~v =~v
OQ
x
b
^
k
_ _
~a x
1
^
j
_ _
a
*
(2)
where ~v
OQ
is the relative velocity of point Q with respect to the
reference point O, x
1
is the angular speed of the bolt head (about
the y-axis) due to bolt head bending, x
b
is the angular speed of
the bolt head (about the z-axis) due to bolt rotation in the loosen-
ing direction, and ~a is the vector connecting the reference point O
to point Q.
Figure 3 shows the kinematic analysis of the sliding motion.
When the countersunk bolt is subjected to transverse excitation,
the bolt head might slide upward against the joint conical hole
causing an increase in bolt tension due to the shift in position of
point O to point O
/
.
Using the instantaneous center I.C. approach, the velocity vec-
tor ~v of any point Q on the conical bolt head surface is given by
~v = x
1
L
B
cos u x
b
r
x
sin h x
1
r
x
r
i
( ) tan u [ [
^
i
x
b
r
x
cos h [ [
^
j x
1
L
B
sin u r
i
r
x
cos h ( ) [ [
^
k
(3)
where u is the complementary cone angle (Fig. 2), r
x
is a variable
that can stand for r
i
or r
o
depending on the analysis location, and
L
B
is the distances from the instantaneous center I.C. to point B.
Using the coordinates of points A, A
/
, B, and B
/
(Fig. 3), the dis-
placements of points A and B due to bolt head sliding are given by
Dx
A
and Dx
B
, as follows:
Dx
A
=
1
m1 ( )
cos w/ ( )

r
i
r
e
( )
2
h
2
_
r
e
r
i
( )
_ _
=
Dx
B
m
(4)
where / is the bending angle of the bolt head about y-axis (Fig.
3), h is the height of the bolt head, m is a constant dened as the
ratio of the change Dx
B
=Dx
A
, and w is a constant angle from the
bolt head geometry. The displacement of point O in x-direction is
given by Dx
O
as follows:
Dx
O
= Dx
A
m
r
i
r
i
r
e
m 1 ( )
_ _
(5)
Figure 4 shows a free body diagram of the bolt head. The normal
forces on the conical bearing surface are simplied by two normal
forces F
1
and F
2
acting at points B and A, respectively. The pres-
sure distribution along the peripheral of the bolt head is assumed
to vary sinusoidally with the angular location h on small area at A
and B reaching a maximum pressure at the line of action of the
transverse excitation.
The normal force vector
~
F
1
acting at B is obtained by integrat-
ing the normal pressure q
1
on the surface S shown with the shaded
area in Fig. 4 as follows:
Fig. 2 Velocity vector for an arbitrary point Q on the bolt under
head
Fig. 3 Schematic of bolt head sliding and instantaneous
center analysis
Fig. 4 Schematic of bolt head free body diagram and contact
pressure distribution
Fig. 1 Model schematic
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~
F
1
=
r
i
Dh
cos u
_3p
2
p
2
q
1
cos h [ [^ ndh = q
1
Dhr
i
p
2
tan u
^
i 2 cos u
^
k
_ _
(6)
where ^ n is the unit normal vector acting perpendicular to the bolt
head surface (Fig. 4), and Dh is the vertical height of the small
area dS upon which the pressure q is acting.
Following the same procedure, the normal force vector
~
F
2
act-
ing at A is given by
~
F
2
=
r
e
Dh
cos u
_p
2
p
2
q
2
cos h [ [^ ndh = q
2
Dhr
e
p
2
tan u
^
i 2 cos u
^
k
_ _
(7)
Since the frictional forces are always opposing the sliding tendency,
the direction of the frictional forces
~
F
bf 1
and
~
F
bf 2
would be opposite
to the velocity vectors of points B and A, respectively. Substituting
the corresponding radii in Eq. (3) and dening the ratio g
b
as the
translational-to-rotational speed ratio of the bolt head (g
b
= v
O
=x
b
),
the velocity vectors ~v
bf 1
and ~v
bf 2
are given as follows:
~v
bf 1
= g
b
L
B
L
O
cos u r
i
sin h
_ _
^
i r
i
cos h [ [
^
j

g
b
L
O
L
B
sin u r
i
r
i
cos h ( )
_ _
^
k (8)
~v
bf 2
= g
b
L
B
L
O
cos u r
e
sin h
g
b
L
O
r
e
r
i
( ) tan u
_ _
^
i
r
e
cos h [ [
^
j
g
b
L
O
r
e
cos h L
B
sin u r
i
( )
_ _
^
k (9)
The frictional forces
~
F
bf 1
and
~
F
bf 2
are obtained by integrating the
frictional force vectors on their corresponding contact surface
(Fig. 4) as follows:
~
F
bf 1
= l
b
_
3p=2
p=2
q
h1
~v
bf 1
~v
bf 1

dS
= l
b
q
1
_
3p=2
p=2
F
bf 1x
^
i F
bf 1y
^
j F
bf 1z
^
k
_
dh (10a)
~
F
bf 2
= l
b
_
p=2
p=2
q
h2
~v
bf 2
~v
bf 2

dS
= l
b
q
2
_
p=2
p=2
F
bf 2x
^
i F
bf 2y
^
j F
bf 2z
^
k
_
dh (10b)
where F
bf 1x
, F
bf 1y
, and F
bf 1z
are, respectively, the x, y, and z com-
ponents of the force
~
F
bf 1
divided by q
1
l
b
. Similarly F
bf 2x
, F
bf 2y
,
and F
bf 2z
are, respectively, the x, y, and z components of the force
~
F
bf 2
divided by q
2
l
b
.
From the free body diagram of the fastener in Fig. 4, the fric-
tional shear force F
bs
under the bolt head can be obtained from
the equilibrium condition as follows:
F
bs
= q
1
Dhr
i
p
2
tan u
_ _
l
b
_
3p=2
p=2
F
bf 1x
dh
_ _
q
2
Dhr
e
p
2
tan u
_ _
l
b
_
p=2
p=2
F
bf 2x
dh
_ _
(11)
The bearing friction torque T
b
is obtained by integrating the cross
product of the forces
~
F
bf 1
,
~
F
1
,
~
F
bf 2
, and
~
F
2
with their respective
moment arm vector as follows:
T
b
= ~a
e
q
2
l
b
_
p=2
p=2
~
F
bf 2
dh
_
p=2
p=2
~
Fdh
2
_ _ _ _

^
k
~a
i
q
1
l
b
_
3p=2
p=2
~
F
bf 1
dh
_
3p=2
p=2
~
F
1
dh
_ _ _ _

^
k (12)
where ~a
e
and ~a
i
are the radial vectors from the reference point O
to the point of action of the forces
~
F
2
and
~
F
1
, respectively.
Numerical integration of Eqs. (11) and (12) gives the bearing
frictional shear force F
bs
and the bearing frictional torque T
b
,
respectively. Figure 5 shows T
b
and F
bs
verses the speed ratio g
b
.
It is observed that when there is no relative rotational movement
between the bolt head and the joint g ( ), the bearing fric-
tional torque T
b
would be equal to zero, while the shear frictional
force F
bs
would quickly asymptote to a constant (critical) value.
On the other hand, when there is no relative translational speed
g
b
= 0 ( ), the bearing frictional torque T
b
will be maximum
(resisting the relative movement), while the shear frictional force
F
bs
would be equal to the under head normal forces projected in
x-direction.
2.3 Thread Friction Analysis. Nassar and Yang [8] pro-
posed a 3D model of the threads relative motion under transverse
excitation. The thread friction shear force F
ts
was given as
follows:
F
ts
~ l
t
q
t0

sec
2
a tan
2
b
_
_
rmaj
rmin
rdr
_
2p
0
g
t
r sin h ( )

g
2
t
1 tan
2
a cos
2
h ( ) r
2
2g
t
r sin h
_ dh (13)
where l
t
is the thread friction coefcient, q
t0
is the average thread contact pressure, a is half the thread prole angle, b is the helix angle,
r
min
is the minimum thread contact radius, r
maj
is the maximum thread contact radius, and g
t
is the translational-to-rotational speed ratio
of the thread surface (g
t
= v
tx
=x
t
).
The thread friction torque T
t
was given as follows:
T
t
=
__
Xt
l
t
q
to

sec
2
a tan
2
b
_
_
rmaj
rmin
r
2
dr
_
2p
0
r g
t
sin h ( )

g
2
t
1 tan
2
a cos
2
h ( ) r
2
2g
t
r sin h
_ dh (14)
Figure 6 shows the thread friction shear force F
ts
and the thread
friction torque T
t
as a function of the speed ratio g
t
, obtained
through the numerical integration of Eqs. (13) and (14),
respectively.
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2.4 Shear Force and Bending Moment due to Transverse
Excitation. The external transverse cyclic excitation subjects the
bolt to elastic deformation due to bending and shear loading. The
bending deformation is simplied assuming that the bolt behaves
as a cantilever beam subjected to a transverse shear force F
ex
and
a bending moment M
/
b
, as shown in Fig. 7. Since the displacement
of point O in x-direction Dx
O
is opposite to the direction of exter-
nal excitation, the total deection d
T
of the bolt head is given by
d
T
=
F
bs
L
3
3EI

M
b
L
2
2EI
Dx
O
(15)
where F
bs
is the bearing frictional shear force of the conical bolt
head opposing the external shear force F
ex
, M
b
is the reaction
bending moment of the bolt opposing the external bending
moment M
/
b
due to the joint upper plate sliding, and L is the bolt
grip length as shown in Fig. 7.
The bending moment M
/
b
of the bolt head depends on the bend-
ing stiffness of the bolt head, the joint bending stiffness, and con-
tact area. A linear relationship is assumed between the bending
moment M
/
b
and the head rotation angle / as follows:
M
/
b
= k/ (16)
where k is the bending stiffness of the bolt head. In this study, the
bending stiffness k is obtained using nite element analysis, using
the tolerance outlined in Ref. [12]. Substituting Eqs. (5) and (16)
into Eq. (15), the bearing frictional shear force F
bs
is given as
follows:
F
bs
=
3EI
L
3
d
T

k/L
2
2EI
Dx
A
m
r
i
r
i
r
e
m 1 ( )
_ _ _ _
(17)
From static equilibrium, the shear force acting on the thread sur-
face F
ts
is related to the bearing shear force under the bolt head
F
bs
as follows:
F
ts
= F
bs

M
t
tan a
rmin c
4
t
1 ( )
2 c
3
t
1 ( )

1
3
r
maj
0:2725p
_ _
(18)
where c
t
is the ratio of the major-to-minor thread radii, and M
t
is
the bending moment acting on the threads given by Ref. [8] as
follows:
M
t
~
q
/
t
r
maj
p
6
r
4
maj
r
4
min
_ _

1
9
pr
maj
0:2854p
_ _
r
3
maj
r
3
min
_ _
_ _
(19)
where q
/
t
is the amplitude increase in thread contact pressure due
to bolt bending.
The speed ratio g
b
can be obtained through equating the fric-
tional shear force F
bs
obtained from Eqs. (11) and (17). The corre-
sponding bearing frictional torque T
b
for the same speed ratio g
b
is then calculated using Eq. (12). A similar procedure is followed
for calculating the thread frictional torque T
t
component. Figure 8
shows the various torque components during one full excitation
cycle. When the pitch torque T
p
is larger than the sum of the bear-
ing and thread friction torques, there will be a net loosening tor-
que component according to Eq. (1).
Fig. 6 Thread friction torque T
t
and thread shear force F
ts
ver-
sus the translational-to-rotational speed ratio g
t
Fig. 7 Bolt bending due to external transverse excitation
Fig. 8 Illustration of the cyclic torque components and shear
force
Fig. 5 Bearing friction torque T
b
and bearing shear force F
bs
versus the translational-to-rotational speed ratio g
b
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3 Experimental Procedure and Test Setup
In this section, an experimental procedure and test setup are
established in order to validate the analytical prediction of the
effect of thread pitch and conical countersunk angle on the loosen-
ing performance. Fasteners used in this study are
1
=2 in.20 2.5
in. and
1
=2 in.13 2.5 in. SAE Grade 8 countersunk fasteners
with two conical head angles 82 deg and 100 deg. Test bolts
are uncoated cold rolled fasteners having an average Rockwell
hardness (RHC) of 42.6, purchased from the same commercial
supplier. The washers used are conical washers that are heat
treated and hardened to a RHC of 65 to make it harder than the
mating fastener. The average conical angle of the washers was
82:4 deg 60:6 deg and 100:3 deg 60:8 deg, corresponding to
nominal conical angles 82 deg and 100 deg, respectively. Since
fasteners were obtained from the same commercial supplier, it
was presumed that they conformed to applicable standards for tol-
erances [12].
A self-loosening testing machine that is similar to the Junker
machine [1] is used for model verication. The machine consists
of a motor that drives a set of pulleys with an eccentric mecha-
nism that reciprocates the upper plate shown in the bolted joint
schematic (Fig. 1) in order to cause self-loosening. The tests are
displacement controlled to apply a predetermined transverse exci-
tation of amplitude 0.7 mm and frequency of 10 Hz. An embedded
load cell is used to monitor the loss in joint clamp load/bolt ten-
sion (due to loosening) in real time during the test. Tightening is
controlled by achieving a predetermined bolt preload of 20 kN,
corresponding to 26.4% and 23.4% of the fastener proof load for
coarse and ne threaded fasteners, respectively. Seven tests were
conducted for each set of variables. The average self-loosening
curve for each variable combination is compared with the data
obtained from the analytical model. Figure 9 shows a sample of
the self-loosening testing conducted for
1
=2 in.13 2.5 in. Flat
82 deg fasteners.
Thread and bearing friction coefcients are experimentally
obtained from separate torque-tension tests using a fastener testing
system following the test procedure outlined in Ref. [11]. The
mean values of the thread and bearing friction coefcients of ve
test samples for each variable combination are shown in Table 1.
The friction coefcients are then input into the MATLAB code that
provides the model prediction of self-loosening.
Ultrasonic cleaning is performed on all parts prior to testing.
All test bolts, nuts, and washers were ultrasonically cleaned prior
to testing. Cleaning continued for 5 min before the parts were
removed and allowed to dry at room temperature. New fasteners
and washers are tested each time for both the fastener testing sys-
tem and the self-loosening testing system. After drying, the fasten-
ers were dipped in oil to allow for a consistent frictional behavior.
Lower plate tapped hole xture was cleaned every ve tests to get
rid of excess oil.
4 Results and Discussion
Analytical and experimental results are presented in this sec-
tion. Two variables are investigated for their effect on the self-
loosening rate, namely, the thread pitch p and the conical counter-
sunk angle u. Model prediction of the fastener loosening behavior
is experimentally validated.
Table 2 shows the average loosening rate per cycle for
1
=2 in.-13
Flat 82 deg,
1
=2 in.-20 Flat 82 deg, and
1
=2 in.-13 Flat 100 deg coun-
tersunk fasteners tightened to initial preload of 20 kN. The loosen-
ing rate is calculated assuming a linear loosening rate in the range
20kN _ F _ 5kN, as the self-loosening curve becomes nonlinear
below 5 kN.
Figures 10 and 11 show the average experimental loosening
rate for coarse
1
=2-13 Flat 82 deg and ne
1
=2-20 Flat 82 deg fasten-
ers, respectively, versus the analytical results obtained from the
self-loosening model. The drop in bolt preload for ne threaded
fasteners at the rst few loading cycles is attributed to embedment
as well as alignment errors and clearance stack in the ne threaded
xture that engage with the test bolts. The model predicts the
loosening rate to be 230.77 N/cycle and 43.73 N/cycle for coarse
Fig. 9 Sample self-loosening tests for coarse threads fasten-
ers (82deg conical angle)
Table 1 Experimental friction coefcient data for countersunk
bolts
Fastener type
Thread friction
coefficient l
t
Bearing friction
coefficient l
b
1
=2 in.-13 Countersunk
plain Flat 82 deg
0.166 0.242
1-r Scatter 9% 6%
1
=2 in.-20 Countersunk
plain Flat 82 deg
0.16 0.296
1-r Scatter 2.8% 4.2%
1
=2 in.-13 Countersunk
plain Flat 100 deg
0.27 0.35
1-r Scatter 40% 18.8%
Table 2 Experimental self-loosening results of investigated
fasteners
Fastener
1
=2 in.-13 2.5 in.
Flat 82 deg
1
=2 in.-20 2.5 in.
Flat 82 deg
1
=2 in.-13 2.5 in.
Flat 100 deg
Self-loosening
rate (N/cycle)
267.87 38.18 159.57
1-r Scatter 5.7% 19.8% 19.6%
Fig. 10 Self-loosening results for coarse threads fasteners
(82deg conical angle)
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and ne fasteners, respectively. The percent difference in self-
loosening rate between the analytical and experimental model
results are 16% and 12.7% for ne and coarse fasteners,
respectively.
Figure 12 shows the average experimental loosening rate for
1
=
2
-13 Flat 100 deg fasteners verses the analytical results. The
average experimental loosening rate is 159.57 N/cycle, model pre-
dicts the loosening rate to be 163.04 N/cycle. The percent differ-
ence, in self-loosening rate, between the analytical and
experimental model results is 2.12%.
4.1 Effect of Fastener Thread Pitch. Figure 13 shows the
average loosening rates obtained from experimental testing for
ne
1
=2 in.-20 and coarse
1
=2 in.-13 Flat 82 deg countersunk fasten-
ers. It is observed that the loosening rate for ne threaded fasten-
ers is signicantly lower than that for coarse threaded fasteners.
The decrease in thread pitch p from 1.95 mm to 1.27 mm caused
the self-loosening rate to decrease from 267.87 N/cycle to 38.18
N/cycle (85.7% reduction). It is concluded that the thread pitch
has a very signicant effect on the self-loosening behavior as
reported by Housari and Nassar [7].
4.2 Effect of the Countersunk Conical Angle u. The coni-
cal complementary angle u of countersunk fasteners under head,
shown in Fig. 1, is an important variable affecting the fastener
self-loosening behavior. Commercially available countersunk fas-
teners come in two different conical angles, namely, 82 deg and
100 deg, equivalent to u = 49 deg and u = 40 deg, respectively.
Figure 14 shows the model prediction of the effect of the coni-
cal angle u on the self-loosening behavior of
1
=2 in.-13 counter-
sunk fasteners tightened to initial preload of 17.5 kN. It is
observed that the angle u increase causes an increase in the fas-
tener self-loosening resistance. The increase of the conical angle
u from 40 deg to 49 deg caused the self-loosening rate to decrease
from 236.4 N/cycle to 187.6 N/cycle (20.6% reduction).
Figure 15 shows the effect of the conical angle u on the analyti-
cal bearing torque component T
b
given by Eq. (12), which resists
the bolt rotation in the loosening direction. It is observed that
increasing the conical angle u caused an exponential increase in
the frictional bearing torque T
b
, which is interpreted as more
resistance to fastener loosening. The increase in fastener
Fig. 11 Self-loosening results for ne threads fasteners
(82deg conical angle)
Fig. 12 Self-loosening results for coarse threads fasteners
(100deg conical angle)
Fig. 13 Effect of thread pitch p on the self-loosening behavior
(82deg conical angle)
Fig. 14 Effect of under head conical angle u on the self-loosening
behavior for fasteners tightened to initial preload of 17:5 kN
Fig. 15 Effect of under head conical angle u on the frictional
bearing torque component T
b
021210-6 / Vol. 134, APRIL 2012 Transactions of the ASME
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loosening resistance is also attributed to the increase in the bolt
shear resistance component created by the projected contact pres-
sure along x-axis. It is concluded that the fastener conical angle u
has a signicant effect on the fastener loosening behavior.
5 Conclusion
The effect of conical angle u and the thread pitch p on the
vibration-induced loosening of preloaded countersunk-head bolts
is investigated using a nonlinear mathematical model. The pro-
posed model correctly predicts a higher resistance to loosening for
ne threads as compared to coarse threads. Increasing the conical
angle u enhances the loosening resistance signicantly, as the
resisting bearing friction torque component T
b
increases exponen-
tially with the conical angle u. Model results are in good correla-
tion with the experimental data on the loosening behavior of
countersunk-head fasteners.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the US Army TARDEC
for their support as part of Contract No. DAAE07-03-C-L110.
Authors would also like to thank Mr. Zhijun Wu for helping with
the nite element simulations.
Nomenclature
E = Youngs modulus of the bolt
F = clamp force/bolt preload
F
1
= normal force acting at B, under the bolt head
F
2
= normal force acting at A, under the bolt head
F
bf 1
= frictional force acting at B, under the bolt head
F
bf 1x
= x-direction component of the vector
~
F
bf 1
=l
b
q
1
F
bf 1y
= y-direction component of the vector
~
F
bf 1
=l
b
q
1
F
bf 1z
= z-direction component of the vector
~
F
bf 1
=l
b
q
1
F
bf 2
= frictional force acting at A, under the bolt head
F
bf 2x
= x-direction component of the vector
~
F
bf 2
=l
b
q
2
F
bf 2y
= y-direction component of the vector
~
F
bf 2
=l
b
q
2
F
bf 2z
= z-direction component of the vector
~
F
bf 2
=l
b
q
2
F
bs
= reaction frictional shear force under the bolt head
F
ts
= thread frictional shear force acting along x-direction
I = moment of inertia about y-axis for the bolt cross section
J
p
= polar moment of inertia of the bolt cross section due to
torsion
K
b
= bolt stiffness
L
B
= distance from the instantaneous center I.C. to point B
L
O
= distance from the instantaneous center I.C. to point O
L
g
= effective bolt grip length
M
/
b
= external bending moment acting on the bolt head due to
transverse excitation
M
t
= bending moment acting on the thread surface
M
b
= reaction bending moment of the bolt head
T
b
= bearing friction torque component
T
p
= pitch torque component
T
t
= thread friction torque component
~a = vector connecting any point Q to the reference point O
can stand for ~a
e
or ~a
i
~a
e
= vector connecting any point Q on the upper part of the
bolt head to the reference point O shown in Fig. 2
~a
i
= vector connecting any point Q on the lower part of the
bolt head to the reference point O shown in Fig. 2
h = height of the countersunk fastener head
m = ratio of the change Dr
i
=Dr
e
due to bolt head sliding
^ n = unit vector perpendicular to the contact surface under the
bolt head
p = thread pitch
q
1
= contact pressure acting on the lower portion of the bolt
head surface
q
2
= contact pressure acting on the upper portion of the bolt
head surface
q
to
= average thread pressure
q
/
t
= increment pressure amplitude caused by the bending
effect
q
h
= contact pressure variation as a function of the radial loca-
tion h
r
e
= outer contact radius under the bolt head (Fig. 1)
r
i
= inner contact radius under the bolt head (Fig. 1)
r
maj
= maximum thread contact radius
r
min
= minimum thread contact radius
r
x
= variable radius of the bolt head can stand for r
i
or r
e
v
tx
= velocity of any point on the thread surface along
x-direction with respect to the joint surface
~v = general velocity vector of any point under the bolt head
with respect to the joint surface
~v
OQ
= relative velocity of point Q with respect to reference point
O
Dh = the height of a small area dS upon which the under head
pressure acts
Dx
A
= displacement of point A in x-direction due to bolt head
sliding
Dx
B
= displacement of point B in x-direction due to bolt head
sliding
Dx
O
= displacement of point O in x-direction due to bolt head
sliding
a = half the thread prole angle
b = lead helix angle
c
t
= ratio of major-to-minor thread radii
d
T
= transverse displacement of the joint upper plate
g
b
= ratio of the translational-to-rotational velocity of the bolt
head
g
t
= ratio of the translational-to-rotational velocity of the
thread surface
h = angular location
k = bending stiffness of the bolt head
l
b
= coefcient of bearing friction
l
t
= coefcient of thread friction
/ = bending angle of the bolt head due to external excitation
u = half the bolt under head complementary cone angle,
shown in Fig. 1
w = a constant angle that depend on the bolt head geometry
x
1
= relative angular velocity of the bolt under head surface
with respect to the joint bearing surface about y-axis
x
b
= relative angular velocity of the bolt under head surface
with respect to the joint bearing surface about z-axis
x
t
= relative angular velocity of the thread surface with respect
to the joint thread surface
_ x = self-loosening angular acceleration of the bolt
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