This edition of the Fastener Training Minute with Carmen Vertullo was originally published April 16, 2015 as “Torque Tension” during episode 92 of Fully Threaded Radio.
Hi, this is Carmen Vertullo with the Fastener Training Institute and Carver Consulting, and this is your Fastener Training Minute.
So today we’re going to talk about one of my favorite topics: torque tension. How is it that this twisting motion that we put into a bolt called torque, turns into this clamp load that we call tension. There’s more to it than meets the eye come back in a minute and I’ll give you some technical stuff about how torque tension works.
We’re talking about torque tension and here are just a few basic facts and some resources that will help you to be able to use this principle in your business.
First thing is it seems to me when I was working in the fastener distribution industry, and even now, one of the most common questions we get from end-users as what is the right torque for this bolt how tight should I make it and as a supplier?
You’re treading on thin ice when you decide to give out that kind of technical information, because you can get yourself in trouble. Something goes wrong with that: bolts fail, the assembly fails and the customers going to blame it on you. But there are some ways that you can advise your customer on how to determine the right torque tension by giving them some resources.
First thing to know is yes, you can get torque out of a table there are plenty of good books and plenty of tables out there that work just fine for determining torque. The important thing is when you use those tables, you have got to be right down the middle. You have got to have a standard fastener and a rigid joint. Everything has to be right and you have got to have a good torque wrench. So what are you doing? That’s not the case. Well, there are some really good experiments that you can do involving torque tension some require instruments and some don’t. Some great resources to learn how to use those experiments are the IFI. The Industrial Fasteners Institute has a book called The Torque Book. and it tells you all about how to apply torque tension experiments.
There is a online resource that the IFI has called the Fastener Technology, and you’ve seen me demonstrate that before I’m sure. As well you can come to some of the Fastener Training Institute training programs, especially one that we have got coming out. This one on torque tension is a webinar. It’s right around the corner. A couple more we have got coming up on structural bolting and a bolted joint. Those are in classroom sessions. And what I want you to know for sure is there are ways to advise your customers about torque tension that famous Formula E = KDP is what it’s all about. Not that difficult and you can do it safely.
So one of the best resources that we have for learning about torque tension are the programs that John Walkman told you about previously from the Fastener Training Institute, both are webinars and are in classroom session, and if you didn’t get it from John just go to ww.w.FastenerTraining.org.
Thanks for listening to the Fastener Training Minute.