Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221

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Journal of Materials Processing Technology

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Analytical study of maximal tapping torque during forming screw process

Pierre Stéphan ∗ , Florestan Mathurin, Jean Guillot
University of Toulouse, Institut Clément Ader, INSA DGM, 135 Avenue de Rangueil, F-31077 Toulouse, France

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Forming screws lead to a bolted assembly forming the threads of the work-piece by displacing material.
Received 6 April 2010 The automotive industry is one of the largest markets for forming screws, which have been developed in
Received in revised form 6 September 2010 the last ten years. One of the problems facing the designer of bolted assemblies using forming screws is
Accepted 17 September 2010
the knowledge of the forming torque during the process.
This study proposes an analytical model based on a previous study concerning radial penetration of a
rigid acute wedge into a perfectly plastic material. The method uses the slip-line method with a model
Keywords:
taking into account the interaction between two consecutive formed threads and enables the mean pres-
Forming screw
Bolted assembly
sure on the thread flank to be obtained as a function of the formed thread height. From these results and a
Plastic strain knowledge of the forming screw end geometry, an analytical method is proposed for the maximum form-
Slip-lines field ing torque, the physical phenomena of the displacement of material in the tapping process is illustrated
Fasteners modeling and the significantly influential parameters highlighted. An experimental study seeks to determine the
optimal lead hole on the work piece for an M8 screw. This sets limits on the forming torque and con-
serves a sufficiently well formed thread shape for good stripping resistance. The experimental results are
compared favorably with the results of the analytical study in order to validate the forming screw model.

© 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
At present, trilobed forming screws are the most popular fas-
teners in the automotive industry for bolted assemblies without
material removal. They are designed for direct assembly as they
form the threads themselves by displacing the material in the lower
part of the assembly, thus avoiding machining operations and chip
evacuation problems. However, no dimensional standard specifica-
tion exists for forming screws to allow the use of this type of bolted
assembly to be extended.
The variation of the axial torque during the ISO profile forming
screw process is shown in Fig. 1 for thread forming and tightening.
The screw insertion process can be broken down into three main
stages: screw forming, screw advancement, and tightening. During
the first phase, the forming torque allows the thread to be formed
by material being displaced from areas with diameters greater than
the lead hole diameter to areas with smaller diameters. The max-
imum forming torque is obtained when all the working lobes of
the screw are in contact with the work-piece. The torque passes
through a maximum value called the maximum tapping torque
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +33 5 61 55 97 30; fax: +33 5 61 55 97 00.
E-mail addresses: pierre.stephan@toulouse.iufm.fr (P. Stéphan),
florestan.mathurin@gmail.com (F. Mathurin), jean.guillot@insa-toulouse.fr
(J. Guillot).
when the working lobes of the forming screw break through the
lower part of the hole in the work piece. Thus, during the screw
advancement phase, all the threads have been formed and the
torque decreases to an elastic recovery torque. The third phase con-
cerns the screw tightening and includes the elastic recovery torque
and the tightening torque. The variations of the torque are compa-
rable to the tightening torque of a standard ISO cylindrical screw.
The variation of the torque during the forming screw process shows
that it is necessary for the operator to apply a minimum tightening
torque higher than the maximum tapping torque in order to assem-
ble two parts. The use of automatic screwdriver technology enables
the maximum tapping torque to be known so that an automated
monitoring and control strategy can be implemented.
Few studies related to auto forming screws have been published,
partly because no dimensional specifications exist for these kinds
of screws except for ISO 7085. In fact, most of the existing published
works concerning form tapping are based on experimental studies
and on mechanical models for load calculation during the finish-
ing processes. Hayama (1972) analyzed auto forming screws and
established a mechanical model using the minimal energy method
and a theory based on the study of a partially plastically deformed
thick cylinder. The theory predicted the maximum torque values
experienced during the internal thread forming process. The study,
realized with simple hypotheses, is complete and shows that the
significant phenomenon is the increase in the contact pressures
when the thread penetration is high. However, the curves giving the

0924-0136/$ – see front matter © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2010.09.013
 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221
(b)
Thread formation Approach
Torque
Standard curve for forming
screw process
Maximmum tapping torque
Elastic recovery torque
Forming torque
Standard curve for standard screw process
Fig. 1. Curve of the torque as a function of the rotation angle during the forming
screw insertion process.
contact pressures as a function of the height of the formed threads
show a discontinuity, which is in contradiction with the real phe-
nomena. The results obtained by neglecting the friction are close
to those obtained by another method but the results of the study
taking friction into account seem to be approximate. Another inter-
esting model is given by Henderer and Von Turkovich (1975) who
proposed a comparison with the indentation of a tooth inside a
semi infinite part and uses the pressure values at the beginning of
the indentation to calculate the forming torque. The model predicts
that torque would be sensitive to a number of tapping parameters
such as tap size, hole size, entry taper angle, degree of bluntness of
the teeth on the entry taper and the concentric thread flank contact
area. The results obtained are lower than the values of the max-
imum torque obtained at the end of the process and the author
presents good correlations with the experimental study thanks to
adaptation of the friction factor. Concerning analytical modeling of
the axial torque, Seneviratne et al. (2000) investigated an assembly
made up of plates using M4 and M6 thread forming screws to moni-
tor the tightening torque in an automated assembly line. This study
was carried out considering that the ideal screw insertion process
could be discretized into 3 main phases as shown in Fig. 1: screw
engagement, screw advancement, and tightening. For each phase,
Seneviratne et al. (2001) proposed a model based on a quasi-static
analysis which was set up to establish the respective tightening
torque, screw engagement torque and screw advancement torque,
which could be further decomposed into thread forming and fric-
tion resistance components. Two experimental samples, one made
of thermoplastic plates (ABS) and the other of polycarbonate, with
circular core screws and triangular cross section threads were used
to validate the model. However, the screws studied were used for
assembling parts with soft materials and they had a circular body
shape without any forming lobes. The other studies concern the
machining process using thread deformation with lobed taps hav-
ing shapes close to the forming screw shape studied. Chowdhary et
al. (2002), in a later study, took the elastic reversal process into
consideration when calculating the tapping forces. Their model
relates the forces to the area of contact between the forming screw
and the work-piece. The model predicts torque values that com-
pare well with the experimental values. However, it should be
noted that the applicability of the results from this sophisticated
model is limited to their experimental test conditions since sev-
213
eral coefficients were obtained by reverse identification from the
experiment. Fromentin et al. (2005) conducted experimental inves-
tigations on tapping based on the deformation of different materials
and notably high strength steels. In this study, the material flow
during the deformation process and the shape and mechanical
characteristics of the threads were inspected. Recently, Warrington
et al. (2005) used an indentation process based on an experimen-
Tightening tal study on tapping to study the shape of the hole at the crest
of the threads. Mathurin et al. (2009) developed a 3D FE model
to analyze the material flow throughout the thread forming pro-
cess and to identify the most influential process parameters by
a parametrical study. In order to develop a better understanding
of the tightening process, it is necessary to evaluate the forming
torque and the maximum tapping torque. Mathurin (2008) pro-
posed three different methods. The first one uses 3D finite element
Tightening torque
modeling of an assembly process with a thread forming screw with
ABAQUS Explicite. The study shows the impacts of the significant
parameters but the 3D simulation is not always cost effective and
requires considerable engineering and computing time. The sec-
ond method, more efficient in an industrial context, is based on an
Rotation angle experimental study with designs of experiments and leads to the
development of empirical and analytical models for the calcula-
tion of the forming torque during the forming screw process. The
third study, presented in this paper, proposes an analytical model
based on a previous study concerning radial penetration of a rigid
acute-angled wedge into a perfectly plastic material. This original
method uses the flow line method with a model taking the inter-
action between two consecutive formed threads into account and
enables the mean pressure on the thread flank to be obtained as a
function of the formed thread height or of the penetration of the
working thread of the screw inside the work-piece. From this pres-
sure distribution along the thread, the analytical model predicts the
maximum forming torque value by integrating all the elementary
forces applied to the contact area during the forming process. This
method is probably less accurate than the first two but it obtains
the order of magnitude of the forming torque very quickly, which
is what is sought most of the time. Moreover, it allows a better
understanding of the forming process and particularly how critical
parameters affect the value of the maximum forming torque, espe-
cially the lead hole diameter and the screw entry angle. They can
then be optimized.
2. Analytical study
The forces developed during the process are due to both the
deformation of the work-piece material and the resulting flow of
the deformed material along the faces of the tooth, which leads
to the elastic recovery of the material. The determination of the
forming torque is based on a knowledge of contact pressures on
the thread flanks and on geometrical modeling of the contact area
of the screw under study. The complexity of the problem leads
us to make some hypotheses. The model developed predicts only
the final torque value and not the instantaneous torque during the
internal thread forming process. This value corresponds to the posi-
tion of the forming screw, marked (b) on Fig. 1. The two forming
screws studied which can be seen in Fig. 2 are already used in indus-
try today. They have a trilobed body and the principal difference
between the two is the conical entry shape. Only a portion of the
lobe area works during the forming process. The number of lobes
in contact with the work-piece at the end of the first phase of the
forming process is enough to consider that the screw axis is cen-
tered on the lead hole axis. The screw balance shows that the screw
axis is off center with respect to the lead hole axis during the form-
ing process, particularly at the beginning when few lobes are on
contact. This phenomenon decreases during the process because
214 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221
Fig. 2. Geometry of screws studied.
the forces acting on the lobes become more and more balanced.
Finally, the entry screw shape is taken to be conical with an angle
of ˛F (Fig. 2). The M8 screw has a flat surface located at the top of
the thread at 3p/16 with p corresponding to the pitch of the screw.
2.1. Modeling of contact pressures
The model developed is based on the radial penetration of an
acute wedge inside a perfectly plastic material. This is called inden-
tation. The first modeling, based on a hypothetical description of the
slip-lines, was proposed by Hill (1950). This problem can be con-
sidered as one of the basic problems of plain strain plasticity theory
and is presented in many specialized books, such as Rowe’s (1965)
or Johnson’s (1985). The Hill model gives the slip-line fields asso-
ciated with rigid-plastic deformation of a wedge in contact with a
plane surface. It defines the main indentation pressure as a func-
tion of the half angle of the rigid wedge crest, ˛, of the friction
factor between the two materials in contact, , and of the shear
yield stress of the material, K. For the forming screw process, the
work-piece threads are formed by displacing material with a con-
stant angle corresponding to the screw thread angle ˛ = 30◦ . The
penetration of the screw threads is not perfectly radial but we will
take it that the mean contact pressure is not greatly modified by
the tangential friction component. The Hill model gives a good
evaluation of the indentation contact pressure at the beginning
of thread formation but, rapidly, an interaction between two con-
secutive formed threads appears on the flanks of the two threads.
So, the Hill method has to be adapted to the particular problem of
thread formation by a forming screw. On the contact portions of the
forming screw, we assume that the contact pressure on the thread
flank and on the top of the thread is uniform and can be given by
the mean value of the pressure obtained thanks to the appropri-
ate field of slip-lines. Establishing a slip-line field consistent with
the kinematic and taking into account the stresses introduced by
the simultaneous action for the two thread flanks, it is possible to
find an easy graphic resolution which leads to a definition of the
mean contact pressure on the thread flank. This method is based
on a previous study on extrusion detailed in Rowe’s work on the
principles of metal working. This approach uses a full scale layout
and, by a graphic analysis of the problem, obtains the mean pres-
sure values as a function of the wedge penetration depth. So, it is
possible to define these mean pressure values for all the penetra-
tion values corresponding to the thread formation. The proposed
solution is based on an approximate description of the slip-line
Fig. 3. Slip-lines field with the hypothesis of no friction.
field and on the hypothesis of frictionless contact. However, the
results obtained provide a satisfactory approach to the problem
and a reasonable calculation of the thread formation torque.
2.1.1. Slip-lines field without friction
The graphic analysis is presented in Fig. 3.
A realistic slip-line field can be built starting from the top of the
formed thread and drawing the line BD so that it makes an angle
of 45◦ with the median plane considered as a plane of symmetry.
Since the face of the thread AB is frictionless, it can sustain no shear
stress. The normal pressure on the thread face is therefore a prin-
cipal stress and the slip-lines meet AB at 45◦ . Thus, the shape of
the thread profile drawn in Fig. 3 can be compared with the thread
profile observed on the micrographic images of Fig. 4.
The triangle ABC is therefore such that BC and AC make angles
of 45◦ with the thread flank and that BC = BD. The area CBD is then
divided into three equal parts having top angles of 10◦ . The two radii
dividing this sector CBD allow the points C1 and C2 to be obtained,
located at the intersection between the radii and the arc CD. C1 D1
is then drawn with an angle of 5◦ in the counterclockwise direction
relative to BC1 , then, from C2 , we draw a line that makes an angle
of 5◦ in the counterclockwise direction relative to BC2 , and from C
a line that makes an angle of 5◦ in the counterclockwise direction
relative to BC. From D1 , a line forming an angle of 45◦ clockwise
with the trace of the plane is drawn. The intersection between this
line and that drawn from C2 allows C3 to be obtained. From C3 , a line
that makes an angle of 5◦ in the counterclockwise direction relative
to C2 C3 is drawn; the intersection of this line and the median plane
gives D2 . C4 is obtained at the intersection of the line forming an
Fig. 4. Micrographic images for an M8 forming screw and an S235 steel plate with
a thickness of 5 mm.
 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221 215

angle of 5◦ relative to BC from C and a line drawn starting from C3 at H* 0.53 0.59 0.64 0.70 0.74 0.76 0.78
10◦ clockwise relative to D1 C3 . The C4 A1 segment is tangent to the
flow line D1 C4 , i.e. it is drawn with an angle of 5◦ in the clockwise y* 0.33 0.37 0.39 0.41 0.42 0.425 0.43
direction relative to C3 C4 . Similarly A1 E1 is drawn with an angle
of 5◦ relative to C4 A1 . We then proceeded in the same manner to Pw / 2K 1.58 1.67 1.75 1.94 2.06 2.17 2.30
complete the rest of the field of slip lines. To establish the stress
state at each point, the analysis starts on the free surface of the
thread BD where the normal stress 2 = 0 and it is then deduced PW/2K
+∞
that PQ = K for all points Q of BD. We go from Q to R by a rotation of
−˛ along a type ˛ slip-line. Hencky equations allow the hydrostatic
pressure to be calculated at any point in the deformed body from
the curvature of the slip-lines. The formulations give:

PR + 2K(−˛) = k then PR = K(1 + 2˛) (1) No slip

2
The slip line RS is a straight line parallel to AC so the indentation
pressure on the face AB is given by:
1.71
PAB = −1S = PS + K = PR + K = 2K(1 + ˛) (2)
1.4
The pressure at C is equal to PR and, if we follow the type ˇ
1.29 frictionless
slip line, it successively cuts the type ˛ slip lines with the angle
1.28
˚ (here equal to 5◦ ). After crossing n ˛ slip lines, the pressure Zone 0.08 ≤ µ ≤ 0.14
H*
has increased by 2nK˚ and the pressure at the nth intersection 1
N along the type ˇ slip line BC from point C is: 0 0.5 1

PN = K(1 + 2˛) + 2Kn ˚ (3) Fig. 5. Variation of the mean pressure related to H* for different friction factors.

This pressure at N is the same as the pressure at M because MN

is a straight line. The rotation of the slip lines from M to L leads to
a pressure increase of 2Kn˚, so:
PL = PM + 2Kn ˚ = K(1 + 2˛) + 4Kn ˚
The pressure on the face EE2 is:
PEE2 = −1L = PL + K = 2K(1 + ˛ + 2n ˚)
Considering Fig. 3, the resulting force on the flank of the wedge
is:
PW BE = 2k(1 + ˛)AB + 2K(1 + ˛ + 2 ˚)AE1
+ 2K(1 + ˛ + 4 ˚)E1 E2 + 2K(1 + ˛ + 6 ˚)E2 E
Then, the mean indentation pressure on the formed flank is:
PW /2K = (1 + ˛)AB/BE + (1 + ˛ + 2 ˚)AE1 /BE
+ (1 + ˛ + 4 ˚)E1 E2 /BE + (1 + ˛ + 6 ˚)E2 E/BE
to a relationship between the dimensionless reduced penetration
y* = y/p and the height of the dimensionless reduced formed thread
H* = H/p such that:
(4)
y∗ = −0.91 × H ∗2 + 1.58 × H ∗ − 0.25
In addition, the pressure field can easily be extended to other
(5)
related heights of the formed thread higher than H3∗ . Fig. 5 gives
an overview of the results obtained and shows the curve of PW/2K
related to H/p for frictionless contact ( = 0).
A basic function can be found giving the mean pressure PW/2K
according to H/p based on the two following hypotheses. For H* = 0,
(6) the function passes through the value PW/2K = 1.28 which is cal-
culated easily thanks to the Hill model for a half wedge angle of
30◦ and for frictionless contact. The curve increases and tends to
infinity for H* = 0.87, which corresponds to complete filling of the
thread cavity. The following basic expression (8) gives small devi-
ations from the intermediate points on the curve of Fig. 5 and can
(7) be used for the calculation of the mean pressure

PW /2K = 1.28 + 0.26 × H ∗ /(0.87 − H ∗ )0.7 (8)

The graphic resolution follows easily and, if the plot is well
executed, the accuracy is good. For the study case of Fig. 3, the geo-
metrical parameters of the formed thread height are H* = H/p = 0.62
and y* = y/p = .388, which allows the mean indentation pressure to
be calculated:
PW /2K ≈ 1.75
It can be also noted that this graphic construction allows the
height of the formed thread to be defined as a function of the screw
penetration y.
2.1.2. Generalization of the frictionless model
With the same layout in Fig. 3, the different values of the mean
pressure corresponding to the acute wedge penetration positions
can be determined. The top of the wedge (of the thread) corre-
sponds to the mesh points E1 , E2 and E3 which in turn correspond
to the heights of the formed threads H1 , H2 and H3 . It may be noted
that the calculation cannot be performed when the top of the acute
wedge is located at A because this situation does not satisfy the
volume conservation condition (area1 = area2). This condition leads
For some calculations, it may be easier to express the mean pres-
sure as a function of the related penetration y* , which is input data
of the problem. For a frictionless contact, we have:
PW /2K = 1.28 + 0.5 × y∗ /(0.433 − y∗ )0.28 (9)
For contacts with friction, the values of the mean pressure are
known for a related penetration equal to zero. Presuming that there
is no effect of the friction factor on the related penetration height, a
zone giving the mean pressure values related to H* can be defined
for the screw studied for example for the friction factors between
 = 0.08 and  = 0.14 (Fig. 5).
2.1.3. Influence of the shape of the extremity of the forming screw
threads
In reality, the extremity of the screw threads is not acute as mod-
eled above for the wedge penetration study. Most forming screws
have a small flat surface on the extremity; others have a circular
thread extremity. The profile transition on the formed thread cavity
will be determined by this shape and a transition without a sharp
216 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221
Fig. 6. Slip-lines for a flat extremity of a forming screw thread (Johnson, 1985).
angle will always be better than a transition with a sharp angle,
which can form a rupture initiating point. As demonstrated by
Johnson (1985), the contact pressure field on the top of the thread
was evaluated by a classical model using slip-lines field which is
presented Fig. 6.
For this model, the pressure PW  on the extremity area is the
following:
 Then, the outer radius of the contact zone on lobe i can be defined
PW /2K = 1 + /2 + 
For a forming screw with an ISO standard profile, this gives:

PW /2K = 1 + 5/6 = 3.62
However, this value must be considered as a pressure augmen-
tation at the beginning of the indentation. In fact, we reach the
limits of the application of these methods here because it seems
difficult to draw a consistent slip line field taking the wedge pen-
etration and the singularity of the thread extremity into account.
The truncation of the thread extremity is small relative to the thread
flank size and it is reasonable to suppose that the penetration of the
thread extremity does not disturb the pressure field on the thread
flank too much. Then, the mean pressure value PW calculated for a
thread with an acute extremity is a good approximation. In these
conditions, for the calculation of the maximum value of the form-
ing torque, the additional value of the pressure calculated on the
Fig. 7. Contact pressure model related to H* for frictionless contact.
top of the thread and the mean pressure calculated on the thread
flank can be taken together. Fig. 7 shows the profile of the working
part of the forming screw and the model of the pressure field used
in the following part of the study.
2.2. Geometrical modeling of the contact zones
The angle of the conical part of the forming screw ˛F allows the
radius difference r to be determined between two consecutive
lobes:
r = (p tan ˛F )/3 (12)
According to the forming screw geometry, the contact area for
each of the engaged lobes can be defined. Fig. 8 shows the contact
area for the last forming lobe, which corresponds to the colored
surface. The angular amplitude of the contact area of each lobe can
be easily calculated:
2 2
cos i = [e2 + (r − p/3 tan ˛F ) − rL (k) ]/[2e(r − p/3 tan ˛F ] (13)
(10)
as a function of the contact angle ˇ:
2 0.5
r(ˇ) = e cos(i − ˇ) + [rL (k) − e2 sin2 (i − ˇ)] (14)
(11)
By superimposing all the surfaces corresponding to the work-
ing lobes which in reality are separated, a succession of surfaces is
obtained which looks like the contact surface of the last working
lobe with a continuous outer radius (Fig. 9). The number of consec-
utive contact zones, n, corresponds to the number of working lobes
and depends on the lead hole diameter d0 and on the angle of the
conical part of the forming screw ˛F :
n = integer part[(r − r0 ) / (p tan ˛F )/3] (15)
Except for the first sector, each contact zone corresponding to
lobe k (0 ≤ k ≤ n + 1) has an angular amplitude  i which is:
2
cos k = (e2 + rk−1 2 − rL (k) )/(2erk−1 ) (16)
 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221 217

Fig. 8. Contact area of the last forming lobe and geometric parameters of the contact.

with:

rk−1 = r − (n + 1 − (k − 1))(p tan ˛F )/3 (17)

rL(k) = r − (n + 1 − k)(p tan ˛F )/3 − e (18)

Finally, the conservation of the material volume during the Fig. 10. Definition of ˚ and of the indentation height for the working lobes.
material flow of the forming screw process allows the inner radius
ri to be calculated. The difference of volume due to the compres- sion of the displaced material is negligible and the results have been
validated by micrographic studies. On the micrographic images of
Fig. 4, the form of the thread flank can be seen to be related to the
rk lead hole diameter, with a thread completely formed for a lead hole
Contact area on the lobe k=4
diameter equal to 7.22 mm. The inner diameter Di is close to its limit
value for a 7.45 mm lead hole diameter. Thus, for the M8 screws,
7.45 mm seems to be close to the optimal value which guarantees
low tapping torques and also allows the threads to be sufficiently
r0
well formed, with high stripping loads.
rk-1
r = r5
ri
2.3. Adaptation of the indentation model with the thread forming
screw process
rL(k)
The contact pressure model is based on the radial penetration of
Δθk an acute wedge inside a material, the geometry of the contact area
being defined in Fig. 9. The next objective is to pass from the pla-
nar indentation problem presented above to a 3D problem taking
e the geometry of the forming screws into account. The penetration
height of the screw y* on the angular sector corresponding to each
lobe has to be calculated in order to determine the pressure field
O on the thread flank and on the top of the threads. However, as the
profile is progressive on the conical part of the forming screw, the
penetration is not radial and, for each working lobe, there is an
inducted penetration angle ˚I related to the radial axis (Fig. 10).
The angle ˚I is calculated for each lobe with the help of the
Fig. 10. It has the expression:

sin(˚I ) = a/rI = r/(rI ) (19)

For the geometries of the forming screws studied, r can be

r0
defined according to the pitch p and the conical angle ˛F , such that:

sin(˚I ) = (p tan ˛F )/(3rI ) (20)

For the calculation of the indentation height, r(ˇ) defined in

Fig. 8 can be used.
However, as the forming screws studied have a flat surface on
Fig. 9. Contact area for 5 working lobes forming the threads. the outside diameter located at p/16 from the top of the pitch trian-
218 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221

Fig. 11. Modeling of the elementary friction forces and normal forces on the forming screw.

gle and as the indentation model is based on the penetration of an forces on the thread flank, the elementary friction torque can be
acute wedge, the indentation height corresponds to the r(ˇ) value deduced using the coulomb model:
plus p/16:
dCF1 = 2 dT1  cos ˇ cos ˚ = 2PW dS cos ˇ cos ˚ (24)
√
y∗ = y/p = {(r(ˇ) + 3p/16 − r0 ) cos ˚I }/p (21)
For the calculation of the elementary torques due to the contact
pressures on the top of the threads, an elementary area is defined:
2.4. Torque expressions
dS  = r()/ cos ˚p/8 d (25)
Knowing the contact pressure field (Fig. 7) and the geometry Then, Fig. 12 permits us to define the two expressions as func-
of the contact areas (Fig. 9 and Fig. 10), the forming torque was tions of the elementary tangential force dT2 and the elementary
calculated. It is the result of the screw thread penetration during normal force dN2 :
the forming process and of the contact frictional forces. The con-

tact area is located on the formed thread flanks and on the top dCF2 = dN2 r() sin ˚ = PW dS  r() sin ˚ (26)
of the formed threads. So, it is possible to decompose the torque dCF2 = dT2 r() cos ˚ = 
PW 
dS r() cos ˚ (27)
expression into four terms:
The elementary forming torque results from the sum of the four
- An indentation torque CF1 resulting from the pressure distribu- elementary torques dCF1 , dCF1  , dCF2 and dCF2  . The integration of
tion on the formed thread flanks (Fig. 11), the four preceding expressions needs knowledge of the contact
- A friction torque CF1  resulting from the friction forces on the geometry between the forming screw and the work-piece during
formed thread flanks (Fig. 11),
- An indentation torque CF2 resulting from the pressure distribu-
tion on the top of the formed thread (Fig. 12),
- A friction torque CF2  resulting from the friction forces on the top
of the formed thread (Fig. 12).

˛ corresponds to the thread angle, ˇ corresponds to the helix

angle and ˚ is calculated from the geometry of the active part of
the forming screw. ˚ depends on the angle of the conical part of
the screw and on the shape of the lobes. The point of application
M of the elementary forces is considered to be on the line OP and
OM =  is defined in the direction of the axis (O,y0 ).
So, the elementary area dS has the expression:

dS = 1/(cos ˇ cos ˛) d d (22)

Fig. 11 allows to define the elementary torque:

dCF1 = 2 dN1(sin ˚ sin ˛) = 2PW dS(sin ˚ sin ˛) (23)

The radial indentation speed of the acute wedge being insignif-

icant with regard to the rotation speed of the screw, the sliding
speed of the screw relative to the work-piece is taken to be along Fig. 12. Modeling of the elementary friction forces and pressure forces on the top
the z2 axis. So, knowing the direction of the elementary friction of the forming screw threads.
 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221
Fig. 13. Comparison of the different terms of the maximum forming torque related
to the lead hole diameter.
the forming process (expressions (12)–(20)) and knowledge of the
pressure field resulting from the thread indentation (expressions
(9), (11) and (21)).
2.5. Results of the analytical study
The graph of Fig. 13 shows the forming torque obtained with
screw no. 2 (Fig. 2) and an aluminium AGS6060 work-piece with
a thickness of 5 mm and a friction factor of 0.14 according to the
lead hole diameter. It also shows the contribution of the differ-
ent terms of the thread forming torque: the friction torque on
the thread flank CF1  , the indentation torque on the thread flank
CF1 , the friction torque on the top of the threads CF2 and the
indentation torque on the top of the threads CF2 . The evolution of
the resulting torque seems consistent with values which increase
noticeably when the lead hole diameter decreases. The resulting
forming torque depends mainly on the contact pressures on the
thread flanks because the indentation torque CF1 and the friction
torque on the thread flanks represent almost 70% of the complete
forming torque. Although the contact pressures are lower in this
zone, the contact surface area is always much greater on the thread
flanks than on the top of the threads. The forming torque distribu-
tion between CF1 and CF1  depends principally on the friction factor.
So, the higher the friction factor, the greater the calculated forming
torques. These results confirm those carried out by finite element
simulations and recall the distribution of dissipated energies during
the forming process simulation obtained by Mathurin et al. (2009).
3. Experimental study
The experimental study used the two forming screws presented
in Fig. 2. No dimensional specifications exist for the geometry of
these screws for two main reasons: first, the shape of the extremity
of the screws and the shape and the number of the lobes are still
protected by patents. Moreover, no study on the optimization of
these fasteners has been identified that enables the geometry of
the forming crews to be fixed with rules accepted by all.
3.1. Display of the experimental setup
The setup used for the experimental investigation of the forming
process is introduced in Fig. 14.
The operating system was composed of a commercially avail-
able STANLEY automatic screwdriver (a) fully connected to a mobile
driver (b). The screwdriver had an electrical-pneumatic control
219
Fig. 14. Experimental setup for the investigation of the forming screw process.
interface (h) to start and retract the forming screw. The controller
unit was implemented through a programmable logic controller
and allowed the sequencing of the screwdriver to be completely
programmed. The programmable logic controller was supervised
by a personal computer (i) through the “master control program”,
enabling simple start and stop commands to be issued by the PC
to initiate and terminate a screw driving sequence. The device
was mounted on two vertical columns with two ball bearings (d).
The complete assembly was balanced by a counterweight. Gen-
erally, automatic screwdrivers are employed by human operators
and this technical device enabled us to simulate and control the
axial pressure applied by the operator during the tightening pro-
cess, by adding weights in area (e). A supporting plate made (f) in
the laboratory and mounted on a KISTLER dynamometric plate (g)
measured the screwing torque and the axial preload throughout
the experiment. The test piece was in 235 steel or aluminium and
was mounted on a specific assembly (f) enabling the lead hole axis
of the test piece and the screwdriver central axis to be aligned. The
multi-channel charge amplifier (j) was connected to another PC in
order to measure dynamometric plate acquisitions.
3.2. Analysis of the screwing torque curves
For each test, a curve giving the instantaneous screwing torque
according to the time was obtained. Fig. 15 shows a torque curve
for a forming process with a rotation speed of 360 rpm and an axial
force of 100 N in an S235 plate with a thickness of 8 mm and a lead
hole diameter of 7.45 ± 0.05.
A qualitative analysis of the curve shows the general shape
already observed during the numerical simulations with an
increase of the screwing torque up to a maximum value called the
tapping torque and a decrease of the torque down to a constant
value corresponding to the elastic recovery torque as shown by
Chowdhary et al. (2003). The maximum tapping torque is obtained
when the forming screw goes out of the plate, when all the lobes
are working and the elastic recovery zone is maximum. So it can be
considered that the maximum tapping torque equals the forming
torque plus the elastic recovery torque. The forming torque cor-
responds simply to the maximum torque of the thread forming
process. A first series of test tests was performed to show which
parameters had most influence on the maximum forming torque.
The most influential parameter was the lead hole diameter of the
work-piece, the axial force and the rotation speed having less effect
on the values obtained. We can also see a series of peaks regularly
spaced over the time of the experiment. These peaks did not appear
220 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221
Fig. 15. Experimental curve of instantaneous screwing torque.
during the simulations and are due to the screw being off center
with respect to the lead hole axis. In fact, the geometry of the thread
forming zone leads to progressive formation of the threads by to a
succession of working lobes. When the first three lobes are in con-
tact, the balance of the forces acting on to the screw causes it to be
off center because the contact areas of the three lobes are different.
3.3. Experimental forming torques
Fig. 16 shows the results of the tests carried out. The graphs give
the maximum tapping torque as a function of the lead hole diam-
eter for the two screws studied, for an AGS6060 aluminium plate
Fig. 16. Maximum tapping torque and thread shape.
with a thickness of 8 mm. In order to compare the experimental
results with the analytical ones, it was necessary to subtract the
elastic recovery torque from the tapping torque to obtain the form-
ing torque calculated in the analytical model. The curves shown in
Fig. 16 are given with micrographic images of the threads formed
and can be divided into two zones. The first one corresponds to large
lead hole diameters and the maximum tapping torque increases
slowly with the decrease of the hole diameter. The work-piece
threads are not completely formed. In the second zone, when the
hole diameters continue to decrease to less than 7.4 mm, the work-
piece threads are completely formed and the maximum tapping
torque increases rapidly, with fluctuations depending on the input
parameters.
4. Validation of the analytic model
Some experimental results from this study were used to vali-
date the theoretical model. Fig. 17 shows a comparison between
the experimental results and the results predicted by the model-
ing with several friction factors. It gives the experimental forming
torques and the theoretical forming torques for a S235 steel work-
piece with a thickness of 8 mm and a forming screw with an
entry angle screw of 5◦ , related to the lead hole diameter and
for friction factors between  = 0.11 and  = 0.25. The points with
measurement uncertainties correspond to experimental points. It
can be seen that there is good agreement between the theoret-
ical curve and the experimental results for lead hole diameters
greater than 7.4 mm and for the friction factors usually found
in this type of screws. The non-linear pressure variation model
leads to a non-linear variation of the forming torque. Especially
from a lead hole diameter lower than 7.4 mm, the forming torques
increase noticeably but are slightly under-evaluated. In fact, for a
lead hole diameter of 7.3 mm, the threads are completely formed
and the mean contact pressure increases to an infinite value, the
incompressible material being trapped between two wedge shaped
threads of the screw. In these conditions, it is very difficult to eval-
uate the mean contact pressure from the slip line field defined in
Fig. 3 and the proposed model is no longer applicable. The torques
calculated in Fig. 17 were obtained for screw no. 2 with an screw
entry angle of 5◦ , and an S235 steel plate with a thickness of 8 mm.
The agreement between the experimental points and the theo-
retical curves was obtained with a fiction factor of 0.17, which is
reasonable with the values of friction factors given by the manu-
facturer.
Maximum forming torque-steel S235 -α F =5°
28 experimental
µ=0,11
f=0,11
24
µ=0,14
maximum forming torque
f=0,14
20 µ=0,17
f=0,17
µ=0,2
f=0,2
16 µ=0,25
f=0,25
12
0
7,2 7,3 7,4 7,5 7,6 7,7
Lead hole diameter
Fig. 17. Experimental and theoretical forming torques for friction factors between
 = 0.11 and  = 0.25.
 P. Stéphan et al. / Journal of Materials Processing Technology 211 (2011) 212–221
Maximum forming screw-AGS6060 -µ=0,2
20
16
Maximum forming screw
12
8 screw process and give a good evaluation of the maximum forming
4
0
7,2 7,3 7,4 7,5
Lead hole diameter
Fig. 18. Experimental and the theoretical forming torques for screw entry angles
between ˛ = 5◦ and ˛ = 15◦ .
The analytical model allows us to show the influence of the
parameters on the forming torques especially the geometrical
parameters of the forming screw. A greater number of lobes give a
better balance of forces related to the forming screw axis but leads
to higher values of the forming torques due to the larger contact
surfaces. The lobes radius of curvature is also an influential param-
eter. It must be as small as possible if the forming torque is to be
decreased but its value is limited by the inner diameter and by the
process for manufacturing the forming screws. Finally, the entry
screw angle is also one of the most influential parameters. Fig. 18
gives the experimental points and the analytical results of the maxi-
mum forming torque related to the lead hole diameter for different
values of the screw entry angle. The work-piece is AGS6060 alu-
minium with a thickness of 8 mm and a friction factor of 0.2. It
shows that higher values of the screw entry angle lead to smaller
forming torques. However, the number of working lobes is also
smaller, which leads to greater offset of the forming screw axis rel-
ative to the lead hole axis during the thread forming process. For
example, for a lead hole diameter of 7.4 mm, a forming screw with
an entry angle of 5◦ has 9 working lobes whereas a forming screw
with an entry angle of 15◦ has only three working lobes.
5. Conclusion
This study allows us to propose an analytical model for the cal-
culation of the maximum forming torque during the thread forming
221
process. This original model is based on a slip line study adapted
to thread forming and a simplifying hypothesis. The knowledge
of the mean pressure field on the flank and on the top of the
experimental threads leads to a formulation of the maximum forming torque.
α=5° This expression has to be integrated related to the contact areas of
α=7,5° the forming screw which depend on its geometry. The interest of
this approach is to give a procedure of calculation of the maximum
α=10°
forming torque for all the forming screws with trilobed body and
α=15° conical entry shape. The results are validated by an experimental
study giving the evolution of the forming torque during the forming
torque. Micrographic pictures of the forming screws, used during
the experimental study, allow also to validate the calculation of the
inner radius used in the analytical study.
Another interesting point of this study is that it shows easily
the influence of the different parameters like the friction factor, the
boundary shear stress of the material and the forming screw geo-
metrical parameters, especially the screw entry angle and the lobes
7,6 7,7
radius. So, the results obtained should allow the forming screw
design to be improved.
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