Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de los Andes

IMEC 3530 Design of Mechanical Components

16/12/2020

STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS ON BOLTED JOINTS

David Felipe Forero, 201614313

Daniel Camilo Pinto, 201317620
Camilo Quiroga, 201631973

At the development of the Project, we are going to analyze

a pressure vessel with 8 equally distributed bolts and nuts that Area of unthreaded portion:
seal the top and prevent leakage of the interior fluid using Ansys 𝜋𝑑 2
Workbenck. 𝐴𝑑 =
4

Area of unthreaded portion:

NOMENCLATURE 𝐴𝑡 𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑇𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 8 − 2
E Young’s Modulus
Sy Yield Strength Now, the analytical results of the preload of the fasteners have
Sutl Ultimate Strength presented below. For nonpermanent connections or reused
ν Poisson’s Modulus fasteners:
ρ Density 𝐹𝑝 = 𝐴𝑡 𝑆𝑝 = 9.036 𝑘𝑙𝑏 − 𝑓
PRE-ANALYSIS 𝐹𝑖 = 0.75𝐹𝑝 = 6.777 𝑘𝑙𝑏 − 𝑓
First, it is necessary to characterize the different The sealing capacity is
contacts that exist on the pressure vessel. The fundamental 3% 𝑃𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑
contacts appear on the screws and the pressure vessel. Here, we 𝐹𝑖 6.777 𝑘𝑖𝑝
found that exist 3 types of contacts: Structural Steel - Structural 𝑃𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑 = = = 179.499 𝑝𝑠𝑖
Steel, Structural Steel – Gray Cast Iron and Gray Cast Iron – 𝐴𝐺 37.753 𝑖𝑛2
The preload stress is:
Graphite. For these contacts the coefficient of friction is:
𝐹𝑖
𝜎𝑖 =
Contact Coefficient of Friction 𝐴𝑡
Structural Steel – Structural Steel 0.74 𝑆𝑒𝑎𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑐𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 = 3% × 179.499 𝑝𝑠𝑖 = 5.385 𝑝𝑠𝑖
Structural Steel – Gray Cast Iron 0.4
According to Shigley’s book, the bolt stiffness is:
Gray Cast Iron – Graphite 0.2
𝐴 𝑑 𝐴𝑡 𝐸
[1] 𝑘𝑏 =
Analytical conditions: 𝐴𝑑 𝑙𝑡 + 𝐴𝑡 𝑙𝑑
Now, according to the stiffnesses of the members in the clamped
The thread length of inch-series bolts, where d is the zone, all together, these act like compressive springs in series and
nominal diameter, is: hence the total spring rate of the members is:
1 1 1 1 1
𝐿 𝑇 = 2𝑑 + 𝑖𝑛 = + +
4 𝑘𝑚 𝑘1 𝑘2 𝑘3
Grip length:
𝑙 = Thickness of all material squeezed The compression of a member with the equivalent elastic
between face of bolt and face ob nut properties represented by a frustum of a hollow cone. Here, l
represents the grip length:
From Table A–31, the dimension of hexagonal nut for 7/16
nominal size is 3/8 in.

Fastener length: L

Length of unthreaded portion in grip:

𝑙𝑑 = 𝐿 − 𝐿 𝑇
Length of threaded portion in grip:
𝑙𝑡 = 𝑙 − 𝑙𝑑 Figure 1. Frustum of a hollow cone

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Where, D (Cup and base): 0.625 in, D (Gasket): 0.8359 in, d: Area of unthreaded 𝐴𝑑 0.150 in2
0.438 in, α is 30° and t: 0.394 in. portion
Area of unthreaded 𝐴𝑡 0.106 in2
Thus, the spring rate or stiffness of a member with an angle α = portion
30° is: Area of the Vessel 𝐴𝑣 35.046 in2
0.5774𝜋𝐸𝑑 Preload stress 𝜎𝑖 63.750 kpsi
𝑘=
(1.155𝑡 + 𝐷 − 𝑑)(𝐷 + 𝑑) Bolt stiffness 𝑘𝑏 3.088 Mlb-f/in
𝑙𝑛
1.155𝑡 + 𝐷 + 𝑑)(𝐷 − 𝑑) Member stiffness 𝑘𝑚 3.41 Mlb-f/in
Total external load P 12.047 kip
The total external load is: Fraction of external 𝐶 0.475 -
𝑃𝑇𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 1.75 𝑘𝑠𝑖 ∗ 31.173 𝑖𝑛2 load P
𝑃= = = 6.82 𝑘𝑙𝑏 − 𝑓
𝑁 8 Resultant bolt load 𝐹𝑏 12.499 kip
Resultant load on the 𝐹𝑚 -0.452 kip
connected members
Tensile stress in the 𝜎𝑏 117.582 kpsi
The fraction of external load P carried by bolt is: bolt
𝑘𝑏 Yielding safety factor 𝑛𝑝 0.723 -
𝐶=
𝑘𝑏 + 𝑘𝑚 Load factor 𝑛𝐿 0.395 -
Load factor guarding 𝑛0 1.072 -
The resultant bolt load is: against joint
𝐹𝑏 = 𝐶𝑃 + 𝐹𝑖 separation
In addition, the resultant load on the connected members is: Permanent factor 𝑛𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 0.750 -
𝐹𝑚 = (1 − 𝐶)𝑃 − 𝐹𝑖
SIMULATION
The tensile stress in the bolt can be found as
𝐹𝑏 𝐶𝑃 + 𝐹𝑖 To simulate the pressure vessel, it was necessary create
𝜎𝑏 = = the geometry in Inventor, where it was made 5 parts: the top part
𝐴𝑡 𝐴𝑡 (in green in the figure), the gasket (blue), the base (brown), the
Thus, the yielding factor of safety guarding against the static screw, and the nut. To simulate the fastener, it was supposed the
stress exceeding the proof strength is screw as a smooth cylinder with the diameter and the length
specified in the problem. The geometry is shown next:
𝑆𝑝 𝑆𝑝 𝐴𝑡
𝑛𝑝 = =
𝜎𝑏 𝐶𝑃 + 𝐹𝑖
The load factor have be given by the expression:
𝑆𝑝 𝐴𝑡 − 𝐹𝑖
𝑛𝐿 =
𝐶𝑃

The load factor guarding against joint separation is

𝐹𝑖
𝑛0 =
𝑃(1 − 𝐶)
Finally,
𝐹
𝑛𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑒𝑛𝑡 = 𝑝 [2] Figure 2 Pressure vessel
𝑃
The numerical values with their respective units of the analytical
results have presented below:
Table 1. Analytical results

Item Symbol Result Units

Thread length 𝐿𝑇 1.126 in
Grip length 𝑙 1.181 in
Fastener length L 1.750 in
Length of unthreaded 𝑙𝑑 0.624 in
portion in grip
Length of threaded 𝑙𝑡 0.557 in
portion in grip
Figure 3 Fastener of the pressure vessel

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CONTACTS
Due to the geometry is an assembly of multiple parts it
is necessary to specify the contacts between each part that is
touching. Although Ansys create the contacts automatically,
these contacts will not be used because are not trustworthy and
can create contacts where it is not necessary. So, it is more
efficient to specify the contacts manually.
There was made the following contacts.
1. Between the inferior face of the head of the screw and
the superior face of the top part.
This contact is a frictional contact, where the factor
used is the one between the steel and the iron, shown in
the table 1.

Figure 5 Frictional contact between gasket and base

3. Between the gasket and the inferior face of the top part.
This contact is frictional and is used the frictional factor
between the graphite and the iron.

Figure 4 Frictional contact between screws and the top part.

2. Between the inferior face of the gasket and the superior

face of the base. This contact is frictional and is used
the frictional factor between the graphite and the iron.

Figure 6 Frictional contact between gasket and top part.

4. Between the superior face of the nut and the inferior

face of the base. This contact is a frictional contact,
where the factor used is the one between the steel and
the iron.

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Figure 7 Frictional contact between the nuts and the base.
5. Between the screw and the nut. To make the software
take the fastener as it has threads it is necessary used a
geometric correction option offered by Ansys. In this
option it is only necessary specified the mean diameter
and the pitch to the program supposed the fastener as it
has the dimensions in real life.
This contact is also a frictional contact using the
frictional contact between steel and steel.
In the following image will be shown the dimensions
used in the geometric correction on Ansys.
Figure 8 Contact geometry correction bolt thread
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Figure 9 Frictional contact between screw and nut.
MESHING PROCESS
The mesh created on the geometry it is shown in the
figure 10, to create this mesh was made a body sizing to put the
size of the element equal to 4 mm in every part except for the
fasteners. Also it was introduced a multizone to made each
element of a rectangle and more symmetric.
Figure 10 Mesh of the geometry
By the other hand, in the sections of the top part and the base
where is contact to the fastener it was made a face meshing to
improve the mesh in this section. This is shown in the figure 11
and 12.
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Figure 11 Face meshing on the section of the base with contact with
the nut.
Figure 12 Face meshing on the section of the top part with contact
with the head of the screw.
By the other hand, to the screw and fastener was made special
conditions to make a better mesh. First, it was made the element
size equal to 0.5 mm and in the sections where it is contact with
the other parts it was put a refinement of 3. The mesh of the
screws is shown in the figure 13 and 14, and the mesh of the nut
is shown in the figure 15.
Figure 13 Mesh of the screw
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Figure 14 Mesh of the inferior face of the screw
Figure 15 Mesh of the nut
EXTERNAL FORCES
The external forces that affect the pressure vessel will be divided
in two steps.
 In the first step there will be applied the pre- load on the
fasteners. The value of the preload it is already
explained in the analytical section of this document.
Also, will be put a fixed support on the lowest face of
the base. These forces are shown in the following
figure:
Figure 16 Forces applied in the first step´
 In the second step, all the bolts are going to be locked
and there will be applied the pressure on the top part of
2.75 ksi. Also, the fixed support will remain on the base.
These forces are shown in the next figure.
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 In both figures, the maximum value is in the section where the
preload was applied, this been consistent because this section is
the one with more forces applied, so it is expected that is the one
with the most deformation.
 Stress.

Figure 17 Applied forces on the second step.

NUMERICAL APROACH
In the next section, we will show the results on the fasteners.
In addition, it will be displayed the results for each step described
in the external forces section.
 Deformation:
For the step 1

Figure 20 Stress on the bolt for the step 1

Figure 18 Deformation on the bolt for the step 1

For the step 2.

Figure 21 Stress on the bolt for the step 2

In both results, the maximum stress is on the sector where the

preload was applied.
 Safety Factor

Figure 19 Deformation on the bolt for the step 2

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Figure 22 Safety factor for the bolt
In the figure is shown that the safety factor for the body of the
screw is below 1, meaning that the fastener will fail, thus the
pressure vessel will also fail.
 Contact tool- Status
It will be displayed the behavior of the contacts, after the
external forces are applied. It is important to keep in mind
that the bolts fail so the contacts will fail and there will be
leakage in the pressure vessel.
Figure 23 Status of the contacts on the pressure vessel.
The results on status shown that there will be leakage in most of
the gasket (the yellow zone).
 Contact tool – Pressure
Here will be shown the pressure in the contacts. These
results are not relevant since the bolt fail, and the pressure
will not converge into a relevant value, so it is necessarily
making some changes in the design of the bolts.
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Figure 24 Pressure in the contacts of the pressure vessel
VERIFICATION
According, to the numerical and analytical results, we
can conclude that the safety factor of yielding is satisfactory in
both cases. The two values are less than one and it indicates that
the fasteners will fail by yielding and demonstrates that the bolts
will not support the stress.
Recommendations
After made the simulation, with the boundary conditions and
characteristics of the elements, we found that the vessel fails. For
that reason, is important made some recommendations about
little change that can improve the functioning of the vessel and
made it works well. For achieve the objective we propose and
recommend change the material of the screw. At this moment,
the screw is made of Structural Steel with a Yield Strength of
248.2 MPa (36 ksi), consider that the vessel fails by yielding, it
is necessary a material with a higher Yield Strength. Using the
table A-21 from Shigley’s book:
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 .
We select a AISSI 1141 with a Yield Strength of 1280 MPa.
Making this change on the materials of the simulation, we
obtained the following results:
Figure 25. Safety factor of the alternative design
Figure 26. Safety factor of the alternative design
After calculated se safety factor, we obtained a value of 2.58
in the weakest part of the screw. With this result we can conclude
that the vessel will not be failed by yielding. Also, to prove the
correct functioning of the vessel we simulated and calculated the
Gap:
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Figure 27. Gap of the alternative dessign
The made the simulation of the Gap, we obtained that all the
vessel will work with out fail. In addition, this simulation, and
the results, show us that the vessel will not have a leak and it will
work without problem
CONCLUSIONS
In conclusion, the modification of the Structural Steel to a
material with a higher yield strength will help the vessel to work
correctly without a leak.
For these kind of problems, the numerical solution is very
useful because usually, the analytical analysis are extensive;
however, contemplating some calculations and the boundary
conditions in the pre-analysis is necessary.
Very complex machines such as rockets or airplanes can
have millions of fasteners. To keep costs down, the fasteners
design and installation techniques advance enormously day by
day. By these, methods of joining parts are extremely important
in the engineering of a quality design.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
[1] Engineering Toolbox, «Friction and Friction Coefficients,»
2004. [En línea]. Available:
https://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/friction-coefficients-
d_778.html. [Último acceso: 10 December 2020].
[2] R. Budynas y K. Nisbett, «Screws, fasteners, and the Design
of Nonpermanent Joints,» de Shigley's Mechanical
engineering design, Ninth ed., New York, McGrawHill,
2011, pp. 410-451.
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Put text of Annex here

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