Engineering; from Royalmech engineering
Bolt loading
A bolt can be loaded in one of three ways
Tension
Shear
Combined Shear and Tension
Note: Conditions where bending loads are imposed on the bolt e.g. non-parallel bolting surfaces, should be avoided.
A bolt is primarily designed to withstand tensile loading while clamping components together. Ideally the bolt should only be loaded in tension. Any forces tending to slide the clamped components laterally should be withstood by separate means..
Holes for bolts are generally clearance holes and the best design of bolt is one with a reduced shank diameter (waisted shanks). Joints in shear depending on the bolts to withstand the shear load are not really rigid. Significant relative sideways movement must take place before the bolt shank can take any shear load (hole clearance). It is also likely that in the case of components attached by a number of bolts that one bolt would be loaded first and this bolt would have to yield before the other bolts take their share of the shear load....
Bolts taking significant tensile and shear load need to be engineered to withstand the combined stress..
In structural engineering the codes identify the use of High Strength Friction Grip Bolts (Ref BS 4604 Pts 1-2:1970). The bolts are tightened to a specified minimum shank tension so that transverse loads are transferred across the joint by friction between the plates rather than by shear across the bolt shank.
In mechanical engineering / machine engineering, items are often accurately located using dowels /locating pins. When installed these dowels /locating pins should be engineered to withstand any traverse loads. A recent innovation is to provide dowel bushings. These are used in conjunction with bolts which pass through the inside of the bushing after it has been installed. Separate holes for locating pins are eliminated. The hardened bushings absorb shear loads, isolating the bolts from these forces.
If the choice is made that bolts/screws are to take shear load the joint should be arranged that the threaded portion of the bolt/screw shank is not taking the shear.
The notes on this page relate to the mechanical engineering industry.. In the aerospace industry joints are often designed to specifically load the bolts in shear. The screws and bolts used are high specification close toleranced items and the holes are also machined to close tolerances. The bolted lap joints are generally used for critical assemblies and joints designed with bolts loaded in tension are avoided.????