Proceedings of the ASME 2016 International Mechanical Engineering Congress & Exposition

IMECE2016
November 11-17, 2016, Phoenix, Arizona, USA

DRAFT
IMECE2016- 65024
SELECTION OF VIBRO-CHARACTERISTICS FOR MONITORING FLANGE
INTEGRITY IN THE FIELD CONDITIONS
Vladimir Palmov
St. Petersburg Polytechnic University
St. Petersburg, Russia

ABSTRACT
Monitoring of flange integrity in the field traditionally has been
based on evaluating bolt tension and deriving pressure on the
gasket from these data. Multiple techniques of evaluating bolt
tension based on measuring speed of propagation of a
longitudinal wave (time of flight), or ratio of speeds of
longitudinal and shear waves (L+S method), demonstrate 510% accuracy in the controlled laboratory conditions [1].
However, accuracy in the field, on the flanges exposed to harsh
environment, is often worse than 20%, which makes it difficult
to evaluate flange integrity and predict a leak. The need for
knowing acousto-elastic parameters of steel (in case of L+S
method) may also present a hurdle.
Tools based on measuring a shift of the resonance frequencies
(RF) are commercially available, though RF are relatively
robust to tension, and require a reliable data processing
procedure to discern the proper peaks. Evaluation of tension
based on natural modes is more sensitive, but relatively
complex and costly. Use of transfer functions (TF) offers
several advantages over both RF and natural modes, as TFs
depend on both RF frequencies and natural modes, and a
properly selected parameter of TF can offer greater sensitivity.
Key words: bolt tension, transfer functions, sensitivity, nonlinear elastic curve.
VIBRO-CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON LINEAR
MATERIAL MODEL
Flange integrity can be evaluated by measuring
tension of the bolts or studs that tighten the flange. Bolt tension
can be derived from changes in vibro-characteristics measured
on the flange or on the individual bolts. The linear methods
include torsional vibrations of the flange and transverse
vibrations of the bolt1. In the first case, assuming that all bolts
1
In what follows the terms bolts and studs are used interchangeably,
though considered are studs, that is, uniform rods of constant radius. While the
uniform rod model neglects several factors, it allows comparing sensitivity of
several characteristics that can be used to evaluate tension.

Len Malinin
Gen3 Partners
Boston, MA, USA

in the flange have the same tension, and that the two disks of
the flange move counter-phase, the torsional vibrations of the
flange are described by equation
I&& +

2nPR2
= 0,
l

(1)

where I is the moment of inertia of the disk, is the angle of

rotation of the disks relative to the axis OO, at which n is the
number of bolts, P is the tension of the bolts, R is the radius at
which the centers of bolts are located in the flange, and l is the
length of the bolts2. Since natural frequencies are proportional
to P1/2, this method would be the most sensitive to tension. It
requires, however, knowing the RF for the whole assembly (the
flange plus the bolts) for the nominal tension.

P
O

Fig. 1. Torsional vibrations of the flange.

Likewise, transverse vibrations of a bolt under tension can be
described by equation
2
Eq. (1) can be derived from fig. 1. When the disks turn around the axis
OO by angle , the displacements of the points at the axis of the stud will be
=R. On the other hand, displacements of the ends of the bolt are =l/2,
where is the angle by which the axis of the bolt turns around the axis
perpendicular to the plane of the figure. Then from the condition l/2=
R, the angle =2rR/l.

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EJ

4w
2w
2w
P 2 + 2 = 0,
4
x
x
t

(2)

where E is Youngs modulus, J is the moment of inertia of

bolts cross-section, w is transverse deflection and is mass per
unit length. For the hinged boundary conditions
2w
x = 0, l ; w = 0,
=0
l 2

2 =

Now we assume that stress in the bolt

= ( )

(5)

is a non-linear function of deformation , and deformation can

be presented as a sum of static and dynamic components

the first natural frequency, which can be found as

4 l
E R 2
1 + P
,
4 l
ER 4
4

do not depend on tension (in contrast with the natural

frequencies of transverse vibrations) and do not allow
determining tension from the experimental data.

= s + d.

(3)

where R is the bolt radius and is the density, also noticeably

changes with tension. For the typical parameters of an ASTM
A193 B7 stud (R=0.937 cm, l=10 cm, P= 118,000 N), the
natural frequency for a tightened stud is 4.5% higher than for a
loose stud. Such a change can be easily detected. The problem
with the transverse and torsional vibrations is that they are
difficult to excite with off-the-shelf transducers. Therefore,
commercially available devices for evaluating bolt tension are
based either on ultrasonics or on measuring its natural
frequencies.
VIBRO-CHARACTERISTICS BASED ON NON-LINEAR
MATERIAL MODEL
The fact that stresses in the material of the bolt are generally a
non-linear function of deformations can be utilized to introduce
additional vibro-characteristics which can be in fact more
sensitive to the bolt tension. In what follows we compare
sensitivity to tension of the three types of vibro-characteristics:
a) RF b) selected transfer functions (TFs), and c) broad band
random excitation. The first two characteristics are
monochromatic, and the third one is broad band. For these
three characteristics, the analytical expressions are provided. A
numerical example is given for typical problem parameters:
steel described by Blatz and Ko potential (parameter =4),
static deformation of the bolt s=0.002, loss coefficient =0.05.
It is shown that dispersion at one of the bolt ends under high
frequency broad band excitation has greater sensitivity than the
two others vibro-characteristics and is therefore more suitable
for evaluating bolt tension. Similar calculations can be easily
made for other material parameters, using the analytical
expressions.

Assuming that that s>>d, stress can be presented as

= E s s + Et d ,
where Es, Et are the secant and tangent moduli. These moduli
can be expressed as

E s = E 1
(6)
2

E t = E (1 ),
where for the materials described by Mooney-Rivlin and Blatz
and Ko potentials parameter is, respectively [2],
C + 2C 01
= 10
C10 +C 01
(varying from 2 to 4 for material constants C10, C01) and =4.
Vibrations of the stud are described by equation
SEt (1 + i )

2u
2u
S 2 = 0,
2
x
t

(7)

with the boundary conditions

x = 0, S = P

(8)

x = l , S = P + p cos t

where S is the cross-sectional area, P is static tension, u is the

longitudinal deflection, Et. is a loss modulus, is a loss
coefficient, and pcos(t) is harmonic load.
Boundary conditions (8), after
expression (5) for stresses, take the form

substituting

the

x = 0, SE s s + SE t d = + P
x = l , SE s s + SEt d = + P p cos t.
These expressions can be separated into a static and
dynamic components:

If stress in the bolt is a linear function of deformation ,

x = 0, SE s s = + P

= E,

x = l , SE s s = P

then the natural frequencies

n =

n
2l

E
.

x = 0, d =

(4)

u
=0
x

x = l , SEt d = SEt

u
= + p cos t.
x

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It should be noted that the secant modulus Es appears only in

the first two equations and can be calculated ba
based on the
known force P. On the other hand, the second copuple of
equations depend only on the tangent modulus Et.
While boundary conditions for a bolt in a flange are
more complicated, the logic of the following analysis and the
conclusions will still apply.

1. Resonant Frequencies
Based on (7), (8), the ratio of the first natural
frequencies for a stud with and without tension ((P) can then be
expressed as

1
( P)
=
(1 s ).
2
(0) (1 + s )

(9)

Assuming in this equation =4

=4 and static deformation
s=0.002, we get (P)/(0) = 0.994.
The benefit of this approach is that commercially available
dynamic signal analyzers, such as Hewlett-Packard's
Packard's HP 3562
(or 35665A) automatically identify zeros and poles of transfer
function (using a proprietary algorithm). As long as this
equipment can be used in the field, the ratio (9) is relatively
easy to obtain.

Fig. 2. Transfer function of a structure.

structure
At the left end of the stud ( x = 0 ), the deflection

u x =0 =
and at the right end ( x = l ),

u x =l =

2. Transfer Functions
In terms of sensitivity to structural parameters, the transfer
functions (TF) of a structure (Fig. 2) often offer a better
alternative than resonant frequencies. They can be easily
generated and measured, depend on the whole set of natural
frequencies and damping, and their processing can be easily
automated, as there is no need to detect the individual peaks
related to the RFs. A point to point
nt TF of a structure (Fig. 2) is
expressed as

p 1
cos t ,
SEt sin kl

p cos kl
p
cos t =
ctgkl cos t.
SEt sin kl
SEt

Since deflections are hard to measure, we determine instead the

accelerations at the same points

u&& x=0 =

p 2 1
cos t ,
SEt sin kl

u&&x =l =

p 2 cos kl
cos t.
SEt sin kl

Now the two transfer functions

tions can be introduced: force
at one end to acceleration at the other end

n]
TF() = const*n(xo)n(xs)/[n2-2-j

0 =

where n(xo), n(xs) are natural modes at points xo, xs, n are
natural frequencies and is damping.

(12)

SEt sin kl

and force at one end to acceleration at the same end

To determine transfer functions, we consider a steady
steadystate response of eq. (7) with the boundary conditions (8)
p cos kx
(10)
u=
cos t ,
SEt sin kx
where k
k=

Et (1 + i )

(11)

l =

2 cos kl
SEt sin kl

(13)

Taking the TF (eq. 13) at the loaded end and using (6),
the ratio of TFs for a stud with and without tension (P)
( can be
expressed as
l ( P)
(1 + 0.5 )
1
= [1 s
]
(14)
l ( 0)
sin kl cos kl (1 s )
The last expression
ion can be quite high in the vicinity of the
resonance frequencies (where sin kl =0), and therefore is more
sensitive to changing tension of the stud. On the other hand,
for the same reason, the reproducibility of the ratio (14) often is
low. This low reproducibility can be mitigated to some extent
if we introduce in (13) the complex Young modulus Et(1+i).

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Assuming that the loss coefficient is small, at the resonance

frequencies sinklcoskl = i/2, and
2

l ( P)
4 (1 + 0.5 )
1
= [1 + s
]
l ( 0)
2
(1 s ) 2
2

(15)

Caution needs to be taken with the last expression (15), as

tuning away from the resonance will reduce the ratio. When
working with TFs, better reproducibility can be achieved by
using an integral over a frequency range, e.g., similar to a
damage index [3]
2

D=

cos x
S ( ) d
(20)
sin l

where is the difference between the observation times and

S( ) is spectral density of the load.
One of the characteristics of the random vibrations that can be
easily measured is dispersion D(x) at one of the ends, which
can be obtained by setting =0 in eq. (20) for correlation
function:
i
e

d
TF0 ( )

As an alternative to the shift of resonance frequencies

and TFs under monoharmonic excitation, the response of the
bolt can be analyzed under a broad band random excitation,
with the frequency band covering several resonance peaks. In
this case, boundary conditions to (7) take the form
u
=0
x = 0,
(16)
x

u
x = l , Et (1 + i ) = e itV ( ) d
x

i t

U (, x )V () d.

(17)

Then the function U( ,x) can be obtained as

cos x
,
U ( , x) =
2 sin l

S ()d,

Et

S ()d,

Following the double integration technique [4], where after

substituting (19) into (21) the trigonometric functions are first
averaged around the resonance peaks and then over the whole
frequency range, it can be shown that the dispersion of
acceleration at the loaded end (x=l) is determined by
2l
ch
2
v S ()d.
D(l ) = 2
2l
sh
v

( i ) = (1 + i )

(22)

Two particular cases have practical interest:

Low damping (1, 1), low frequency ( 2l << 1 ), and

v

Low damping (1, 1), high frequency ( 2l >> 1 )

v

(18)

loads, where the inequalities take place for all natural

frequencies in the spectrum of the load.
(19)

3.1. Low Frequency Broad Band Random Excitation

It follows from (22) that for the low frequency (LF) load,

and is determined from the equation

2

where the transfer functions 1 and 2 for a stud with boundary

conditions (16) are, according to (21),
1
cos l
, 1 (l ) =
1 (0) =
.
sin l
sin l

where
( i ), v =

D(l ) =

where V() is a random load with spectral density S(). The

solution for (5), satisfying (16), is sought in the form

3. Broad Band Random Excitation

(21)

or by using TFs taken between different bolts on a flange

(which is beyond the scope of this paper).

cos x
sin l S ( )d.

D ( 0) =

u=

D( x) = K (0, x) =

Of practical interest are the dispersions at the free and loaded

ends:

TFP ( ) TF0 ( )

K ( , x ) =

DLF (l ) =

Substituting U( ,x) from (18) in the spectral representation

(17) of deflection, we obtain spectral representation of and
correlation function of the acceleration

2vl

S ( )d.

and for the high frequency (HF) load,

DHF (l ) =

it cos x
e
V ( )d ,
sin l

u&& = +

(23)

2
2

S ( )d.

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We can now evaluate the effect of tension on dispersion at the

loaded end. Using (6), we note that
Et

v=
= 0 (1 s ),

2
where 0 is the speed of sound in the stud without tension.
Obviously, l = l0(1+s), where l0 is the length of the stud
without tension.
Then for low frequency we obtain

1
DLF (0) = DLF (l ) =
S ( )d ,

2v0 1 c l0 (1 + s ) 2
2

and therefore the ratio of dispersions at the loaded end of the

stud with and without tension can be expressed as
DLF (0)
D (l )
1
(24)
= LF
=
.
D0 LF (0) D0 LF (l )
1 s (1 + s )
2

3.2. High Frequency Broad Band Random Excitation

For the high frequency (HF) load, we take into account that
2

v2

+ 2 =

v0

+ 2 (1 + s )

Then

DHF (l ) =

2 + 2
2
(
1
+

)
c S ( ) d.
2 2
v0

and

DHF (l )
= (1 + s ).
D0 HF (l )

(25)

Eqs. (9), (24-25) allow comparing sensitivity of the selected

characteristics. For the same values =4 and s=0.002, these
expressions give D(l)/D0(l) = 1.002 for LF and 1.008 for HF
load. It can be shown that as long as >2, the high frequency
dispersion ratio at the loaded end (25) will have the highest
deviation from the unit and therefore can be recommended for
evaluating tension.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

These results for the vibro-characteristics based on
non-linear material model are summarized in Tab. 1. The TFs
offer higher sensitivity to tension at the expense of poorer
repeatability. When working with TFs, better reproducibility
can be achieved by using a criterion similar to a damage index
or by using TFs taken between different bolts on a flange.
Measured
parameter

Analytical expression

Tensioned
bolt/ Loose
bolt

1st natural
frequency

( P)
1
=
(1 s ).
(0) (1 + s )
2

0.994

Dispersion
(loaded
end), LF,
low
damping
Dispersion
(loaded
end), HF,
low
damping

DLF (l )
1
=
D0 LF (l )
1 s (1 + s )
2

1.002

DHF ( l )
= (1 + s )
D0 HF (l )

1.008

Function of
the loss
coefficient
and tuning
away from the
resonance
frequency

Transfer
function

l ( P)
4 (1 + 0.5 )
1
= [1 + s
]
l ( 0)
2
(1 s ) 2
2

(at resonance frequencies);

l ( P)
(1 + 0.5 )
1
= [1 s
]
l (0)
sin kl cos kl (1 s )

Tab. 1: Comparison of selected ratios of tensioned vs. loose

bolt.
Numerical values (the right column) for static
deformation s=0.002, material parameter =4.
For a linear material (=0), the right hand parts of eqs.
(9) and (24) become the same, and (25) becomes unit, so the
advantage of the HF dispersion ratio is due to non-linear
characteristics (5) of steel.
This non-linearity is well
pronounced for the bolts tightened to tension in the high
percentage of the yield strength.
Preliminary analysis has shown that other
characteristics of TFs, such as poles and residues at the poles in
its expansion [5], do not produce a better results that 0.8%
difference for the HF load. Such HF load can be generated by
off-the-shelf ultrasound transducers.
In the previous sections, the boundary conditions
implied that the ends of the bolt are flat, parallel to each other
and perpendicular to the axis of the bolt. In reality, the bolt
ends are not perpendicular to the axis of the bolt, can have
recessed grademarks, small indentations etc. These factors
cause transmission of the signal towards the side walls and
reflections along the bolt, yielding some loss of signal strength,
poor signal quality and possible measurement errors. The
monochromatic ultrasonic methods (such as L+S method [1])
are generally more sensitive to the non-perfect shape of the bolt
than a broad band random excitation (one can often hear
Ultrasonics needs polished parallel ends of the bolt).
However, analytical and experimental modeling of vibrocharacteristics of a bolt made of non-linear material and having
skewed ends requires further research.
From practical standpoint, the best scenario would be
a single characteristic of the whole flange, measured across the
flange and compared to a threshold level. The threshold level
can be determined based on the acceptable level of the contact
pressure or deformation in the gasket between the disks of the
flange (Fig. 3). The required contact pressure is often
stipulated by the applicable design norms. Since leakage of a

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flange connection is ultimately determined by the deformation

of the gasket, an estimate of this deformation is a more direct
measure of flange integrity, than traditionally used tension of
the bolts. This approach, which can be based on evaluating
stiffness of the interface between the two disks [6,7], requires
further research.

[5] Jimeno-Fernandez, I., Oberall, H., Madigosky, W.M.,

Fiorito, R.B., 1992, Resonance decomposition for the
vibratory response of a viscoelastic rod, Journal of Acoustic
Society of America, 91, pp. 2030-2033
[6] Baltazar, A., Rokhlin S.I., Pecorari, C., 2002, On the
relationship between ultrasonic and micromechanical properties
of contacting rough surfaces, Journal of the Mechanics and
Physics of Solids, 50, pp.1397 1416.
[7] Belov, S.A., Gondareva, S.A., 2010, Tensely-deformed
conditions and tightness of reinforced flanged connections,
available at http://repository.kpi.kharkov.ua/bitstream/KhPIPress/19945/1/vestnik_KhPI_2010_14_Belov_Issledovanie.pdf

Fig. 3,a. Axial stresses in the flange (working

conditions).

Fig. 3,b. Pressure on the gasket (working conditions)

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors are grateful to the anonymous reviewers for their
comments and suggestions.
REFERENCES
[1] Chaki, S., Corneloup, G., Lillamand, I., Walaszek, H.,
2007, Combination of Longitudinal and Transverse Ultrasonic
Waves for In Situ Control of the Tightening of Bolts, Journal
of Pressure Vessel Technology, 129, pp.383-390.
[2] Lurie, A.I., 1990, Nonlinear Theory of Elasticity, North
Holland, Amsterdam.
[3] Caccese, V., Mewer, R., Vel, S. S., 2004, Detection of
bolt load loss in hybrid composite/metal bolted connections,
Engineering Structures, 26, pp. 895906.
[4] Palmov, V., 1998, Vibrations of Elasto-Plastic Bodies,
Springer, Berlin.

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