Stress concentrations in bolt-thread roots

Abstract

The apparent geometric origin of fatigue fractures in oversize shank bolts is considered in this report. Bolt-nut interaction between the bolt and both a standard nut and a special nut are investigated. The “frozen stress” method of three-dimensional stress analysis was used to determine the magnitudes and locations of points of stress concentration in plastic models of both the oversize shank bolt and a standard bolt in combinations with standard and special nuts. The results indicate that, for installations in which the special nut is used, bolt geometry may be the controlling factor in determining the fatigue life of the boltnut combination, because the stress-concentration factors due to the nut loading are of the same order of magnitude as the stress-concentration factors due solely to bolt geometry. On the other hand, for installations in which standard nuts are used, the nut-induced stress-concentration factors are much larger than those due to bolt geometry; so, bolt geometry will have less effect on the fatigue performance of the combination. If the nut is threaded onto the bolt so far that the first loaded thread of the nut is in the thread-runout area of the bolt, fatigue performance of the installation will be greatly reduced due to the combination of stress-concentration factors from thread loading and section change and, again, bolt geometry may be a prominent causative factor.