Andrei Lozzi 2014

References: J W Fisher & J Striuk.

B E Gorenc & Tinyou. J B Bickford

BOLT IN FRICTION (left)

The bolt preload provides a resistance to lateral movements of
the flanges, by combining with friction. The max lateral force R
that can be resisted:

preload

R ~ (preload as decimal) As Sy
As ~ 0.85 Ab, (Ab & As - shank and thread stress areas)
~ 0.4 - for steel on steel, pr < 0.8 - high preload
Therefore R ~ 0.4 0.8 0.85 Ab Sy
Hence R ~ 0.3 Ab Sy

BOLT IN BEARING

(right)

Resistance force T provided by bolt shank in shear:

Tmax ~ Ab Ssy
Tmax ~ 0.66 Ab Sy
Therefore a preloaded bolt will ultimately allow plates to slip
under a transverse shear force and the shank of the bolt will
be placed in bearing. The bolt will be capable of a greater
load in bearing than in friction but if that happens the
preload must be assumed to be relieved (lost).

Tmax

We have 2 strips of material, each with 7 equally disposed holes of the same
diameter. The lower strip is drawn with broken lines and its holes with slightly
smaller diameter to make the two strips distinguishable.

How to determine the load of the most heavily loaded bolt, if a pattern
of bolts are placed in shear.

Assume we have two plates with matching linear pattern of holes. If then the
plates are bolted together and plates are rotated with respect to each other by
a small angle

when the 2 strips are superimposed. We note that the lateral displacement of the
holes increases as we move away from the centre of the bolt patter (the centre
hole).
If these strips had been bolted together and one strip rotated as shown above w.r.t.
the other the centre bolt would not be subjected to any shear elongation but as the
distance from the centre increases the shear elongation and therefore the shear
stress would increase proportionally.
A large number of tests have shown that using normal tolerances (5 to10% Db) and
using medium strength material, the greater the distance from the centroid of the
bolt pattern, the greater will be the likelihood of bolt shear failures.

D - Perpendicular distance from

centre to the line of the force
Centroid or centre of bolt
pattern

D
F - Force

The force F has to be resisted and a bolt pattern of 5 bolts is nominated to do the task.
Here we set out the method of calculating the shear load in each bolt in the pattern.
The bolts have to resist a moment equal to M=F x D (ie F cross product D) and the
shear force F , acting on the pattern.
The moment M is a vector that is vertical to this diagram.
5

fs = F/n
To simplify these drawings, only the effect on 3 bolts will be shown.
Considering the shear force first:
The shear force F is shared equally by all bolts, ie each take fs = F/5.
Generally the force on bolt i due to
shear force F Taken as vectors:

fsi = F/n

D
r

fs
fmi
Considering the moment next:
The moment M=F x D is typically distributed unevenly between the bolts. The further away a
bolt is from the centre of rotation (ie the centroid) the greater will be its elongation under
shear, hence the greater will be its share of the moment. The share of M taken by each bolt
will be proportional to | r |.
fmi = c ri
For the pattern chosen above we must note that all fmi for the four corner bolts are of the same
magnitude but of different direction. The exception is the centre bolt for which fm = 0
7

r
F

fmi
The moment contd:
Shear force due to moment proportional to ri

fmi = c ri

The contribution from all bolts equal to the moment

ri fmi = F x D

Since the moment is :

M= F x D

we have:
Therefore:

c ri = F x D
c = (F x D)/ ri

We can now calculate the load at each bolt location, due to just the moment.
8

fs
fmi

The moment tries to rotate the plates while sliding w.r.t. each other. Hence the bolts
holes further away from the centre will displace laterally more than the holes nearer
to the centre.
The furthest bolts are subjected to the greatest shear elongation, any bolt at the
centre will just rotate and carry no shear load due to the moment.

ft3

ft2

ft1
Each bolt takes the vector sum of these 2 components shown above fti=fs+fmi.
The resulting force on each bolt can have quite different magnitudes, eg ft1> ft3> ft2.
Usually a bolt is chosen of a diameter and grade that can safely carry the largest shear load. That
size and grade bolt is then used at all locations. Some bolts are as result underutilised but if the
situation warrants and safety can be reasonably assured, two or more sizes of bolts may be used.
Some bolt pattern are better than others at sharing the load more equally between the bolts.

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If bolt preloaded to 80% of its yield strength in tension, is

subjected to more than about 30% of its shear strength, The
bolt will yield and the preload will be relieved.
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Fisher & J Striuk found that structural

plates bolted together, subjected to
an out of plane moment, as shown at
bottom left, the bolt pattern will
approximately hinge 1/6th from the
bottom of the flange.
The rotation or hinging may occur as
shown at the bottom left figure, if the
components show little deformation
(ie are stiff) with respect to the
moment.

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A bolt pattern as seen on wheel to hub connection.

Usually both the hub and the wheel are stiff with respect
to lateral forces, between the tyre and the road.

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There is a multitude of possible failure modes at

plates or sheets, riveted or bolted together, subjected
to significant shear forces
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