Comparison of Anti-Loosening Characteristics of Various M14

Threaded Fasteners

Supriyo Samanta1, Soumyajit Das2, Ranendra Roy3, Kamalendu Bhukta4,

Anirban Pal5 and Santanu Das6
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kalyani Government Engineering College,
Kalyani- 741235, West Bengal, India
1
Email: supriyosamanta1705@gmail.com, 2Email: soumyajt1991@gmail.com
3
Email: ranendraroy2009@gmail.com, 4Email: kamalendu.bhukta@gmail.com
5
Email: anirban.243@gmail.com, 6Email: sdas.me@gmail.com

Abstract
Threaded fastener is widely used in industrial and household applications. It retains
good amount of tightening load and also offers easy assembling and disassembling.
However, it can be loosened under vibration thereby causing fatal mishaps sometimes.
In the present experimental investigation, a comparative study of the anti-loosening
tendency of various high tension steel M14 threaded fasteners is evaluated on an
indigenously made testing rig offering accelerated test facility. It is observed that the
decrease in clamping force is the lowest after 12600 oscillations for nylon coated bolt.
Hybrid double nut is found to show good resistance to loosening next to nylon coated
bolt.
Keywords: Threaded fasteners, loosening, nut, bolt, metric bolt, washer, anti-loosening
fastener.

1. Introduction

Threaded fasteners are reported to have been used first time in the Tigris-Euphrates
region almost 3000 years ago 1 mainly for the purpose of irrigation. Leonardo da Vinci,
the famous artist of creating the portrait of ‘Monalisa’, has proposed a number of thread
like profiles to apply to various applications for its smooth, easy operation. Since then,
different modifications have been done in the design of thread, and in the use of
threaded fasteners2. At present, various standard threads are available such as British
Standard Whitworth (BSW) threads3, metric (M) threads, American National Standard
thread4, etc.

There are numerous advantages of threaded fasteners 1,2,5,6 over the other types of joints
such as welded joints, rivets, etc. These are ability to generate a high clamping force
and to retain it for long, easy availability of standard threaded fastening elements, ease
of assembling and disassembling, etc. However, there are disadvantages 1,2,5,6 also such
that stress concentration occurs in the threaded fasteners which are vulnerable points
under reversible loading conditions, and threaded fasteners are prone to loosening
under vibration.

Considering the disadvantages, screw fasteners are to be properly selected to use in

numerous assembly applications, transmission of power as in lead screw of a lathe, for
accurate or precision movements as in micrometers, pumps, etc. Several anti-loosening
fasteners such as spiralock bolt, step lock bolt, tine lock nut-bolt assembly, hard lock
nut, aero tight nut, cleveloc nut, double threaded bolt, friction locking nut like nylock nut,
whizlock nut, chemical locking nut, etc. have been developed 1-4,7-15 which are claimed to
have good resistance to loosening under vibratory conditions.

Spiralock bolt10 has a 30° wedge ramp in bolt threads to offer locking effect under
vibration applications. Step lock bolts 1,11 provide anti-loosening tendency due to the
presence of zero lead (in steps) at regular intervals on the thread profile. Larger the
zero lead steps present in the thread profile, greater is flat portion resulting in much anti-
loosening ability. Tine lock nut-bolt 12,13 assembly has a notched bolt having channels at
regular intervals in which the tined nut gets locked into. They have a wide range of
applications like automotive, marine, military, roadway, bridge, machinery construction,
railway construction, medical instruments, etc.

Hard lock nut14,15 is a combination of two nuts of which one plays the role of a hammer
and the other acts as a wedge. A self locking effect is resulted when the concave upper
part is forced into the eccentric convex top of lower nut. On the other hand, aero-tight
nut16 has slots in two places which are slightly bent inwards and after the nut is
tightened, the slotted parts are forced into their original position. Stiffness of nut material
causes the nut threads to bind onto the bolt thread, and thus, creates an extra
tightening torque. In the cleveloc nut 16, the elliptical collar of metal construction
generates a locking effect due to its stiffness. Double threaded bolt 17-19 is a typical bolt in
which finer threads are fabricated upon the coarse threads. So, when the lock nut is
tightened after the power nut, the receding of the power nut, due to vibration is
prevented to a certain extent. Nylock nut 1,2,7,14,20-22 has nylon inserts at the top part of the
nut, and this creates more friction and pressure on the thread surfaces thereby
providing some anti-loosening effects. Whizlock nut 7 has teeth on the head which are
ramped allowing the bolt to rotate in the clamping direction but locks into the bearing
surface when rotated in loosening direction. Certain adhesives may also be used to fill
the gaps between the mating threads and create a bonding which will resist the
loosening torque. Loctite nut is one such type of chemical locking nut 7.

Around the globe, a number of research groups have carried out investigation on
developing quality anti-loosening threaded fasteners and its performance evaluation.
Evaluation of different threaded fasteners have been made by the group lead by Fujii 1,11
in Japan. While Kasai19 has conducted detailed experiments in this area, Hess 23 has
lead a group in USA, Das2,10,14,17,20-22 has lead researchers to evaluate different nut-bolt-
washer combinations experimentally, and Eccles and his team 24 in UK has also done lot
of works, both analytically and experimentally, in this direction. While Fujii and others 1,11
is credited in developing step lock bolt (SLB), Kasai 19 has done work to reduce
loosening of nut to avoid leaking in pressure vessels, etc. Hess and others 23 have
conducted series of works to find out optimum combination of parameters and fastening
elements by experiments and finite element analysis. Das and others have conducted
extensive tests to evaluate loosening ability of available threaded fasteners and
introduced taper headed split nut 17, hybrid double nut21,22, etc. Although a brief
discussion is made in this section regarding different anti-loosening fasteners, It may
also be noted that there are various other anti-loosening fasteners used by an industry
to suit specific purpose and application.

2. Mechanism of Loosening and Its Prevention

2.1 Loosening of Threaded Fasteners

Under transverse vibration, that is, in a plane square with the bolt axis, it was observed
that tightening force and torque decreases continuously in a nut-bolt assembly
indicating loosening1. Failure under reversible bending loads is also seen in the nut-bolt
assembly when joint slip occurs7. In some other cases, threaded fasteners may be
subject to tensile or fatigue failure

The loosening phenomenon can be broadly classified as loosening without a relative

rotation between nut and bolt, and loosening caused by relative rotation between nut
and bolt. Stretching of bolt, shrinking of intermediate pieces or presence of highly
polished bearing surfaces between the fastening and fastened elements may also
cause loosening of the nut 8. Deformation being is the primary reason proper selection of
material is needed to eliminate such type of loosening. Second type of loosening is
caused by relative rotation between bolt and nut, and these are due to bending of parts,
different temperatures on the clamped materials and applied force on the joint.

Reversible tensile and compressive forces act on the contact surfaces between nut and
bolt when it is under vibration. However, due to presence of lead angle and flank angle
at mating surfaces, forces get split into three orthogonal directions. One force
component acts along the axis of the bolt, the other is radialy directed and the
remaining one is along the tangential direction. So the force that acts along the bolt axis
stretches the bolt. The radial force deforms the thread profile, and the tangential force
causes a moment in the reverse direction, that favours loosening 9.

2.2 Prevention of Loosening

To resist self loosening of nut-bolt assembly, the clamping force should be sufficient,
thread should be properly designed and appropriate fasteners need be selected to suit
service conditions. It is experienced1,2 that loosening can be minimized by three ways as
discussed in the following.
i) Reduction of lead angle
With the increase in lead angle which is the angle made by the helix of a thread along
the pitch line with the plane perpendicular to the axis, relative slip between the contact
surfaces increases. If this angle is reduced to a small value, it can increase the anti-
loosening property by decreasing the receding velocity of nuts.
ii) Reduction of flank angle
If the flank angle (angle between the flanks of the thread and perpendicular to the bolt
axis) is less, the tightening torque needed is more, and the torque required to loosen the
fastener during vibration increases.
iii) Providing a matching taper
By providing a taper, contact area and friction force between mating surfaces are
increased, creating a locking effect. However, production cost to make this is high and
hence, its limited use.

3. Experimental Investigation

Knowing well2 that a transverse vibration is the prime criteria behind loosening of nut-
bolt assembly, a test rig has been designed and fabricated to carry out the loosening
test. The set up provides 280 strikes per minute on the loose plate that is fastened using
threaded fastening elements. This is obtained with the use of a disc cam fitted on the
shaft as shown schematically in Fig.1. The total number of oscillations allowed is 12600
for all the tests. The initial clamping force maintained is around 1.0 tonne in this work
with M14 threaded fasteners. Due to vibration, fasteners have a tendency to loosen,
and the decrease in clamping force is noted by a load cell and load indicator at regular
intervals.

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the test set-up (F = Fixed Plate, L = Loose Plate)

Some new anti-loosening fastening elements are proposed and tested in this work apart
from the commonly used ones. Relative rotation between the nut and bolt is tried to
prevent by increasing the friction at the nut and bolt thread interface as discussed in the
following.

a. Nylon coated bolt: Nylon string of 2 mm diameter was wound on M14 bolt thread
at the desired place such that it comes down under the nut during tightening. The
winding was made to around 2 cm of length. Fig.2 shows the photograph of nylon
coated (wound) bolt.

Fig.2. Nylon coated bolt

b. Teflon coated bolt: Though Teflon is a material of very low co-efficient of friction
(0.04), it is used as a coating substance on the bolt for increasing the pressure at
the nut-bolt thread interface. Initially the coating is made less for about only 10
meters of wounding for 20 mm length along the bolt, but as it shows relatively more
slip, it is modified to 18 meters of winding for the same length on the bolt. Though
the friction of teflon is less, it is used to cause a jamming effect thereby increasing
the friction. Fig.3 shows a teflon coated M14 bolt.

Fig.3. Teflon coated bolt

In this work, experiments are performed on high tension steel M14 bolts using a
commonly used conventional nut, along with using spring washer, inside serrated
washer, outside serrated washer, and serrated spring washer, simple double nut, teflon
coated bolt with a nut, nylock nut, hybrid nut and nylon coated bolt with a nut. The
fastening elements used in this work are detailed in Table 1. Then test results are
compared to find out the fastener showing the highest resistance to loosening within the
domain of experiments. The test results on nylon coated and teflon coated bolts are
compared with the other combinations of fastening elements as shown in Fig.4.

Table 1: Description of the fastening elements used

Type of Material Bolt element Nut used Washer used
bolt
M14 High Bare bolt Conventional Nut Spring washer
(2 mm Tension Bolt with Nylock Nut Serrated spring washer
pitch and Steel nylon string Double Nut Inside serrated washer
230 mm Bolt with Hybrid Double Nut Outside serrated washer
long) teflon coating

4. Experimental Results and Discussions

In this work, loosening tests have been carried out on M14 bolt with various types of
nuts and washers, etc. The test has been repeated three times to get reliable data. Also
a bolt used for each type of nut and bolt has been changed after each experiment in
order to avoid any faulty readings due to bolt deformation. The initial clamping force
maintained is around 1.0 tonne. Table 2 shows the clamping conditions of the fasteners
used.

Test results with different fastening elements as detailed in Table 1 are shown in Fig.4.
Fig.4 depicts the comparison of loosening tendency of different types of nuts and other
fastening elements at different combinations. This facilitates understand the anti-
loosening abilities of various combinations of fastening elements. From the comparative
study, it is naturally observed that a conventional nut and bolt has a high rate of
loosening of clamping force. On the other hand, use of different washers improves the
resistance to loosening to some extent. However, using the nylock nut, the resistance
against loosening under vibration is remarkably good, although the hybrid nut with a
common nut and a nylock nut shows more anti-loosening tendency than the single
nylock nut. In the present experiment, nylon coated bolt with a conventional nut shows
the maximum resistance to loosening under similar vibration condition. The nylon grip
increases contact friction to a great extent and thereby improving the anti-loosening
characteristics of the threaded fasteners.

Table 2: Details of the clamping conditions for M14 bolt

Type Other fastening elements, Final clamping force
of bolt etc. used (tonne)
Exp. 1 Exp. 2 Exp. 3
Conventional Nut 0.918 0.914 0.921
M14 Spring Washer 0.932 0.928 0.935
bolt Inside Serrated Washer 0.942 0.946 0.951
Outside Serrated Washer 0.954 0.947 0.951
Serrated Spring Washer 0.956 0.959 0.951
Double Nut 0.958 0.965 0.971
Teflon Coated 0.975 0.983 0.979
Nylock Nut 0.995 0.997 0.992
Hybrid Nut 1.014 1.017 1.010
Nylon Coated 1.034 1.039 1.048

Fig. 4: Comparison of loosening tendency of M14 fasteners

The anti-loosening tendency in an increasing order is as follows:

1. Conventional Nut
2. Conventional Nut along with Spring Washer
3. Conventional Nut along with Inside Serrated Washer
 4. Conventional Nut along with Outside Serrated Washer
5. Conventional Nut along with Serrated Spring Washer
6. Double Nut
7. Teflon Coated Bolt with Conventional Nut
8. Nylock Nut
9. Hybrid Double Nut
10. Nylon Coated Bolt with Conventional Nut

4. Conclusion

From the tests carried out, the following conclusions may be drawn:
i) Loosening tendency is quite high in a conventional nut-bolt assembly, while using
spring washer, serrated spring washer or double nut result in lesser loosening
under vibration condition.
ii) Employing hybrid double nut with a nylock nut and a common nut improves
resistance to loosening significantly, and nylon coated bolt and standard nut
shows remarkable anti-loosening ability.
iii) Finally it can be stated that a nylon coated bolt with a standard nut provides
better anti-loosening characteristics than the other threaded fasteners tested in
this work. Hybrid double nut is also exhibiting good resistance to loosening next
to nylon coated bolt and standard nut assembly.

Acknowledgement: The authors acknowledge the R&D fund sanctioned by the AICTE,
New Delhi vide file reference No. 8018/RDII/BOR/R&D(244)/99-2000 dated March 24,
2000 with which the loosening test rig was set up. Authors also thank Shri Goutam
Chakraborty, Shri Sushanta Barik and Shri Anit Pradhan of Mechanical Workshop of this
college for extending their helping hand during the work.

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