What’s New in the PCC-1-2010 Update “Guidelines for Pressure Boundary Bolted Joint Assembly”

Author(s):  
Clyde Neely ◽  
Clay Rodery

ASME PCC-1 “Guidelines for Pressure Boundary Bolted Joint Assembly” was first published in 2000 [1]. Since that time, there have been advances in bolted joint technology and industry practices that necessitated an update of the original document. The new revision of PCC-1 [2] is over twice the length of the original document and contains many new and updated guidelines. Significant additional detail has been added to the document in an effort to provide the broadest possible array of bolted joint assembly considerations to cover situations commonly encountered in industry, and thereby improve the overall safety and performance of bolted joints. This paper identifies some of the notable changes/additions that are included in the updated document.

Author(s):  
A. Fitzgerald (Jerry) Waterland ◽  
David Lay ◽  
Michael Dodge

Why do we certify welders but require no evidence of training or competence from those performing the critical bolted flanged joint assembly of pressure vessels and piping throughout the same industries? To remedy this situation ASME has recently released the first comprehensive standard in ASME PCC-1-2013 Appendix A that establishes uniform criteria, not just for the quality of the bolted joints but for the workers who assemble them. To support this critical training and qualification standard, ASME Training & Development has created a unique blended learning program for pipe fitters and mechanics to become Qualified Bolting Specialists (QBS), per the requirements outlined in PCC-1-2013 Appendix A. The purpose of this technical presentation is to explain the opportunities presented by this new standard and how industry can benefit from a better-trained work force in this critical area of bolted joint assembly. The authors have been integrally involved in the development of both the PCC-1 guideline document, and the ASME qualification program, and can authoritatively answer industry’s questions.


Author(s):  
Warren Brown

This paper details the results of recent testing and experience into the assembly of bolted joints. Pressure boundary bolted joint assembly procedures are examined and details are presented that result in a reduction in the required effort to assemble any given joint by more than 50%. The selection of correct assembly load levels is addressed and suggestions for joint integrity improvement are made. Experimental results are also presented on the use of bolt lubricants and the effect of temperature on the lubricant properties.


2011 ◽  
Vol 133 (06) ◽  
pp. 48-52
Author(s):  
Edward Hayman ◽  
Clyde Neely

This article discusses the various ways of solving the puzzle of bolted joint assembly. In 2001, The PCC-1-2000 Guidelines for Pressure Boundary Bolted Flange Joint Assembly presented with knowledge and practices specific to the assembly of bolted flange joints. The puzzle solution that came from this box was the most definitive to date and allowed those dealing with bolted joints to assemble the variables by methods that had been used successfully for many years by many people. This document is helping people across industry not only to assemble bolted flange joints, but also to establish joint integrity programs, procedures, and best practices. PCC-1-2010 shifts the emphasis to gasket stress and gasket type and provides instruction and information pertinent to bolt torque values. The 2010 document contains, for instance, a whole section on bolt stress—the unit load that should be put on the bolts—and includes tables as well.


2013 ◽  
Vol 135 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazim Ould-Brahim ◽  
Abdel-Hakim Bouzid ◽  
Vladimir Brailovski

Creep is an important factor that contributes to the clamp load loss and tightness failure of bolted joints with and without gaskets over time. Retightening of the joint can be expensive and time consuming; therefore, it is an undesirable solution. Currently, most efforts are put towards reducing load losses directly by tightening to yield, improving material creep properties, or making joint less rigid. An alternative solution of current interest is the use of bolts in shape memory alloys (SMAs). However, very few experimental studies are available, which demonstrate the feasibility of these alloys. The objective of this study is to explore the benefit of shape memory and superelasticity behavior of an SMA stud to recover load losses due to creep and thermal exposure of a gasket in a bolted-joint assembly. This paper explores several venues to investigate and model the thermomechanical behavior of a bolted joint with a nickel–titanium SMA stud. A stiffness-based analytical model which incorporates the Likhachev model of SMA is used as a representation of an experimental bolted-joint assembly. Based on this model, the rigidity of the experimental setup is optimized to make the best use of the SMA properties of the stud. This analytical model is compared with a finite element model, which also implements the Likhachev's material law. Finally, an experimental test bench with a relatively low stiffness representative of standard flanges is used, with and without gaskets to demonstrate the ability of the SMA stud to recover load losses due to gasket creep.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 7141-7151 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Omar ◽  
M. N. Abdul Rani ◽  
M. A. Yunus

Efficient and accurate finite element (FE) modelling of bolted joints is essential for increasing confidence in the investigation of structural vibrations. However, modelling of bolted joints for the investigation is often found to be very challenging. This paper proposes an appropriate FE representation of bolted joints for the prediction of the dynamic behaviour of a bolted joint structure. Two different FE models of the bolted joint structure with two different FE element connectors, which are CBEAM and CBUSH, representing the bolted joints are developed. Modal updating is used to correlate the two FE models with the experimental model. The dynamic behaviour of the two FE models is compared with experimental modal analysis to evaluate and determine the most appropriate FE model of the bolted joint structure. The comparison reveals that the CBUSH element connectors based FE model has a greater capability in representing the bolted joints with 86 percent accuracy and greater efficiency in updating the model parameters. The proposed modelling technique will be useful in the modelling of a complex structure with a large number of bolted joints.


2020 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keita Ogawa ◽  
Satoshi Fukuta ◽  
Kenji Kobayashi

Abstract The development of wooden joints possessing high resistance performance has become an important issue for the construction of newer buildings. This study attempts to strengthen the lateral resistance of bolted joints using the previously reported plasticizing technique. This technique consists of two processing stages: incising the surface of the wood using an ultraviolet wavelength short-pulse laser and impregnating the resin into the incised area. This technique makes it possible to plasticize only a local part of the wood surface. Bolted joint specimens were assembled using plasticized wood around the bolt hole, and the lateral tests were conducted. Acrylic monomer and urethane prepolymer were used as the impregnating resins and their incision depths were set as 4 and 10 mm. When the lateral load acted parallel to the grain, changes in the lateral resistance characteristics were observed, especially for the stiffness and yield load. For example, when acryl was used, and the incision depth was 10 mm, an increment of 73% in the yield load was observed, as compared to the non-impregnated specimens. The specimen groups impregnated with acryl exhibited greater changes in their properties than those using urethane. When loaded perpendicular to the grain, an increase in properties were observed; however, these increments were lower than those of the groups loaded parallel to the grain.


Author(s):  
Warren Brown ◽  
Stewart Long

Nut Factor is used to establish a bolt load for a given applied torque in bolted joint assembly. In previous papers the effects of different factors influencing Nut Factor results were examined, which included the type of anti-seize, bolt and nut material, bolt diameter and amount of anti-seize applied. This paper examines those factors further and then includes additional factors which have been shown to have significant effect on the measured Nut Factor. The knowledge of these factors has been used to adjust the proposed ASTM specification for determining Nut Factor. It is also relevant to application in the field and to ensure that any testing conducted in a laboratory will be applicable in the field.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rashique Iftekhar Rousseau ◽  
Abdel-Hakim Bouzid ◽  
Zijian Zhao

Abstract The axial stiffnesses of the bolt and clamped members of bolted joints are of great importance when considering their integrity and capacity to withstand external loads and resist relaxation due to creep. There are many techniques to calculate the stiffnesses of the joint elements using finite element (FE) modeling, but most of them are based on the displacement of nodes that are selected arbitrarily; therefore, leading to inaccurate values of joint stiffness. This work suggests a new method to estimate the stiffnesses of the bolt and clamped members using FE analysis and compares the results with the FE methods developed earlier and also with the existing analytical models. A new methodology including an axisymmetric finite element model of the bolted joint is proposed in which the bolts of different sizes ranging from M6 to M36 are considered for the analysis to generalize the proposed approach. The equivalent bolt length that includes the contribution of the thickness of the bolt head and the bolt nominal diameter to the bolt stiffness is carefully investigated. An equivalent bolt length that accounts for the flexibility of the bolt head is proposed in the calculation of the bolt stiffness and a new technique to accurately determine the stiffness of clamped members are detailed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qingyuan Lin ◽  
Yong Zhao ◽  
Qingchao Sun ◽  
Kunyong Chen

Abstract Bolted connection is one of the most widely used mechanical connections because of its easiness of installation and disassembly. Research of bolted joints mainly focuses on two aspects: high precision tightening and improvement of anti-loosening performance. The under-head bearing friction coefficient and the thread friction coefficient are the two most important parameters that affect the tightening result of the bolted joint. They are also the most critical parameters that affect the anti-loosening performance of the bolted joint. Coulomb friction model is a commonly used model to describe under-head bearing friction and thread friction, which considers the friction coefficient as a constant independent of normal pressure and relative sliding velocity. In this paper, the viscous effect of the under-head bearing friction and thread friction is observed by measuring the friction coefficient of bolted joints. The value of the friction coefficient increases with the increase of the relative sliding velocity and the decrease of the normal pressure. It is found that the Coulomb viscous friction model can better describe the friction coefficient of bolted joints. Taking into account the dense friction effect, the loosening prediction model of bolted joints is modified. The experimental results show that the Coulomb viscous friction model can better describe the under-head bearing friction coefficient and thread friction coefficient. The model considering the dense effect can more accurately predict the loosening characteristics of bolted joints.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (3) ◽  
pp. 442-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. R. Grosse ◽  
L. D. Mitchell

A critical assessment of the current design theory for bolted joints which is based on a linear, one-dimensional stiffness analysis is presented. A detailed nonlinear finite element analysis of a bolted joint conforming to ANSI standards was performed. The finite element results revealed that the joint stiffness is highly dependent on the magnitude of the applied load. The joint stiffness changes continuously from extremely high for small applied loads to the bolt stiffness during large applied loads, contrary to the constant joint stiffness of the linear theory. The linear theory is shown to be inadequate in characterizing the joint stiffness. The significance of the results in terms of the failure of bolted joints is discussed. A number of sensitivity studies were carried out to assess the effect of various parameters on the axial joint stiffness. The results revealed that bending and rotation of the joint members, interfacial friction, and the bolt/nut threading significantly influence the axial stiffness characteristics of the bolted joint. The two-dimensional, axisymmetric finite element model includes bilinear gap elements to model the interfaces. Special orthotropic elements were used to model the bolt/nut thread interaction. A free-body-diagram approach was taken by applying loads to the outer diameter of the joint model which correspond to internal, uniformly distributed line-shear and line-moment loads in the joint. A number of convergence studies were performed to validate the solution.


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