Republic of the Philippines

Misamis University
College of Engineering & Technology
Department of Civil Engineering
5R2R+386, H.T. Feliciano St, Ozamiz City, 7200 Misamis Occidental

CE 321C: Principle of Steel Design

S.Y. 2022-2023, 2nd Semester

Reaction Paper

The effect of eccentric loading on the fatigue performance of high-tensile bolts

J.W. Hobbs, R.L. Burguete, P.F. Heyes, E.A. Patterson

This is a summary of the article “The effect of eccentric loading on the fatigue performance
of high-tensile bolts” by J.W. Hobbs, R.L. Burguete, P.F. Heyes and E.A. Patterson

This article discusses the impact of eccentric cyclic loads on the fatigue life of bolts that
were investigated. It was found that the eccentric load reduced the fatigue life by an amount
proportional to the increase in the local stress amplitude produced by the eccentricity. The fatigue
performance literature for bolted joints is more complex than for insulated bolts, and different
methods have been proposed to calculate fatigue life and the relationship between bolt load and
fatigue limit.

Nakagome et al. studied the effect of eccentric clamping and loading on the fatigue limit
of bolts in isolation, and found that the greater the distance between the clamping position and the
loading position was varied, and the lower the fatigue limit.

The Health and Safety Laboratory (HSL) has investigated at least 20 serious accidents that
have resulted from failures of bolts and/or bolted connections, and the aim of the study was to
determine the influence of eccentric loading. A secondary aim was to examine the shape of the
cracks occurring in bolts under different eccentric loading conditions.

In methodological analysis, the bolts used in the fatigue tests were M12×80 Metric coarse
thread, high-tensile grade 8.8 according to BS 3692, and corresponding M12, grade 8 nuts and
washers. Before being tested, the bolts were cleaned in an ultrasonic cleaner with 1,1,1-
trichloroethane, brushed with wire wool, and coated with a general-purpose oil. By running the
nut down the thread of a bolt onto a collar until finger tight, the angle of the loaded face of each
nut to the axis of the thread was determined. Feeler gauges were used to evaluate any gaps between
the nut and the collar, and rejected nuts were sorted based on the maximum thickness of the feeler
gauge that could be inserted into the gap. Only 26.6% of nuts were accepted into the experimental
program, and 15.4% did not meet the limits set by the British Standard.

The bolts were tested a hundred times on an Amsler vibrophore machine using special grips
designed to apply the load eccentrically. The eccentricity was changed using various inserts, and

ID#:0040817 NAME: BANGLOS, JAY R. DATE:03/03/23 SHEET 1 of 4

 Republic of the Philippines
Misamis University
College of Engineering & Technology
Department of Civil Engineering
5R2R+386, H.T. Feliciano St, Ozamiz City, 7200 Misamis Occidental

CE 321C: Principle of Steel Design

S.Y. 2022-2023, 2nd Semester

the crack shape was recorded when the bolts failed during the S-N tests. In comparison, axially
loaded bolts were cyclically loaded to failure at two different mean stress levels, 250 MPa and 534
MPa. The stress amplitude was reduced from 130 MPa to 65 MPa for 100,000 cycles in an attempt
to create beach marks on the fracture surface. The strains in an instrumented bolt were measured
using four equis-paced strain gauges aligned with the bolt's axis and positioned on its unthreaded
shank.

The maximum, minimum, and average strains were calculated from the four gauges at load
increments of up to 50 kN. Because the grips swing, the bolt axis moves closer to the axis of
loading, the relationship between load and bending strain is non-linear. Six inserts were created to
provide a range of normalized eccentricity, e/D, from zero to 0.33, which was thought to be
representative of values encountered in everyday practice. To obtain a stress-life (S-N) curve, 20
bolts were loaded cyclically to failure at different stress amplitudes. The fatigue strength at 2105
cycles was discovered, eliminating the need to choose an arbitrary number of cycles at which to
stop the tests and assume infinite life. The stress amplitude levels used in the fatigue tests were
chosen to achieve lifetimes of between 1x105 and 4x105 cycles.

Fig. 5 depicts the relationship between the eccentricity of the applied load and the bending
strain under a 40 kN applied load. The instrumented bolt with the axial insert (e=0) was used to
investigate three of the rejected nuts with gaps of 0.1, 0.3, and 0.6 mm. Table 2 shows the
maximum strain gradients, e9/P, as measured by the gauges. In the case of the nut with a gap of 0.
The maximum gradient occurred at the maximum bending strain, indicating that the bending strain
decreases with load and that the bolt is more likely to fail from the low-tension side.

As a result, six different inserts were tested using fatigue tests. For each level of
eccentricity, S-N curves were calculated, with 20 points representing bolt failure. Fig. Figure 7
depicts the variation in fatigue strength with eccentricity at 2x105 cycles based on nominal or
global and local stress amplitudes. Figures 8 (a) and (b) show the fracture surfaces of two axially
loaded bolts subjected to mean stress levels of 584 and 250 MPa, respectively (b). At higher mean
stress, the crack shape is more akin to a crescent, even though at lower mean stress, the crack is
more straight-fronted. Fig. The crack shapes observed in eccentrically loaded bolts appear in
Figures 8 (c) and (d).

It is clear from the discussion that the eccentricity of the loading has a significant impact
on the fatigue life of bolts. As the level of eccentricity increases, the global stress amplitude that
causes failure at 2105 cycles decreases. The fatigue strength is 8% lower with an eccentricity of

ID#:0040817 NAME: BANGLOS, JAY R. DATE:03/03/23 SHEET 2 of 4

 Republic of the Philippines
Misamis University
College of Engineering & Technology
Department of Civil Engineering
5R2R+386, H.T. Feliciano St, Ozamiz City, 7200 Misamis Occidental

CE 321C: Principle of Steel Design

S.Y. 2022-2023, 2nd Semester

e/D=0.33, but plotting the fatigue strength in terms of the local stress amplitude yields a near-
constant value. The propagation of a fatigue crack is a local event centered on the stress levels at
the crack's tip. Crack initiation and early stages of growth can be used to predict fatigue strength
reduction.

The maximum local stress amplitude in the plane of maximum bending can be calculated
and used on the S-N curve for axial loading to predict the number of cycles to failure. The levels
of eccentricity tested were high, and were assumed to be clearly the result of bending in bolts
where joint separation must have occurred. Because of the superposition of axial and eccentric or
bending loadings, predicting fatigue strength ever since a specified number of cycles is more
complex and difficult. Burguete and Patterson encountered that eccentricity had little effect on the
fatigue limit more than a wide range of mean stresses, but that the fatigue limit dropped quickly
for mean stresses above the material's yield strength. Contrary to the results of axial loading, the
local mean stress has no effect on the stress amplitude even when it is greater than the yield stress.
The level of eccentricity experienced by a bolt seems to have no significant effect on the shape of
the fatigue crack, but the level of mean stress does, with the crack front lengthening or broadening
around the circumference of the helix as the mean stress increases. This observation backs up
previous research by Pacey et al. for bolts and Fuchs and Stevens for notched round bars.

With higher mean stress, increased plasticity in the thread root may cause load shedding
along the helix of the thread, giving rise in crack growth around the helix. The geometric
eccentricity of the nuts will impact the bolt's local stress amplitude and mean stress. The highest
gradient of strain was approximately equivalent to that caused by a 1 mm eccentricity for a nut
under which a 0.6 mm feeler gauge could be inserted. However, the angle between the loaded face
of the nut and the thread axis is more than twice that allowed by the British Standard. The fatigue
performance of bolts fitted with sub-standard nuts is strongly dependent on the preload applied
during tightening, and if over-tightened, the bolt's global mean stress may exceed yield, resulting
in a reduction in fatigue strength. If contact is not created, the bolt will bend significantly,
increasing the maximum local stress amplitude.

Finally, this study investigated the effects of eccentricity and poor-quality nuts on bolt
fatigue life. The fatigue strength for failure at 2105 cycles decreases linearly as the normalized
eccentricity, e/D, tends to increase, where e is the distance between the bolt's geometric and loading
axes and D is the bolt's major diameter. At e/D=0.33, the global stress amplitude considered
necessary to cause failure is 8% lower than when no eccentricity is present.

ID#:0040817 NAME: BANGLOS, JAY R. DATE:03/03/23 SHEET 3 of 4

 Republic of the Philippines
Misamis University
College of Engineering & Technology
Department of Civil Engineering
5R2R+386, H.T. Feliciano St, Ozamiz City, 7200 Misamis Occidental

CE 321C: Principle of Steel Design

S.Y. 2022-2023, 2nd Semester

With eccentricity, the local stress amplitude to cause failure at 2105 cycles remains
constant, and the increase in local mean stress caused by eccentricity seems to have no negative
impact on fatigue life, even when it is greater than the yield stress. This is due to the difference
between both the maximum tensile strain in the bolt shank and the applied load.

The shape of cracks in cyclically loaded bolts is unchanged by eccentricity, but high mean
stress results in a crescent shape. Many nuts were discovered to be have large angles between the
loaded face and the plane perpendicular to the thread axis, tends to result in bolt bending. When
considering the strain differential, those on the British Standard limit were equivalent to an
eccentricity of e/D=0.08. This level of bending would not have any impact on the bolt's fatigue
performance.

ID#:0040817 NAME: BANGLOS, JAY R. DATE:03/03/23 SHEET 4 of 4