A study on an equivalent model of the threaded fasteners in complex structures through tightening and loosening analysis

The threaded fasteners are typical machine components in tightening of the machine parts and structures. In addition, as threaded fasteners are easy to maintenance, these are used extensively from large structures to small electronic devices. However, after the clamping, if repetitive load is applied to the bolt/screw, loosening of the screw occurs. In this study, clamping analysis and loosening analysis are carried out for the M12 bolts which are used for the wheels of commercial vehicles. Since it is difficult to carry out test and finite element analysis (FEA) for the wheels of commercial vehicles, we propose a complex structure to deal with these problems. Through the test and FEA, the clamping force and the loosening load of bolt are derived. Not only the reduction of clamping force but also displacement of the complex structure subjected to load can indicate the loosening of the bolt. Three equivalent models are proposed to replace a detailed model for reduction of the analysis time and cost. Then, the three equivalent models are forms of rigid beam — beam — pretension (RBP), shell — beam — pretension (SBP) and shell — beam — temperature (SBT), respectively. Among these forms, the SBT model is most similar with analysis results of the detailed model. The difference between the analysis results of the detailed model and the SBT model was only 5 %. Based on the SBT model and the detailed model, it is applied to the wheel of the commercial vehicles to be verified. Then, the changes in the clamping force of the detailed model and the SBT model are identified as similar, proving the validity of the equivalent.