GAsTurbines

HYDRAULIC BOLT FASTENING

BEST PRACTICES FOR CRITICAL FASTENING
APPLICATION ON GAS TURBINES
BY PAT MCCORMACK

dvancements in engineering de- critical fastening application is any bolted the use of high heat and a large hammer.

A sign and analysis tools have al-

lowed many new products to be
developed for maintaining and op-
erating gas turbines. They are not only
safer, but they also allow for faster and
joint that requires accurate and uniform
bolt loading.
In the early years of turbomachinery, it
was common practice to tighten a nut and
bolt through thermal expansion. This
Another method used to tighten fasten-
ers is to apply torque. It is common to see
stud sizes well above one inch in diameter;
a mechanical torque wrench used by a sin-
gle person cannot supply enough torque.
easier operation as well as cost savings. process, sometimes referred to as “heat and To achieve high torque values on studs
Some of these enhancements have be- beat,” was done by heating the stud or bolt of larger size, the hydraulic torque wrench
come best practices in the industry. to cause the material to expand in length. was developed. Using hydraulic pressure,
One specific area of improvement is You then tighten the nut with a slug wrench it transmits far more torque than a mechan-
seen in critical fastening applications. A and a large hammer. When the stud cools ical torque wrench. This enables better bolt
down, it contracts and creates the clamping loading of large studs.
force. Drawbacks to this method are the in- An alternative to stud heating and hy-
consistency in obtaining an accurate clamp- draulic torque wrenches that has become
ing force, and safety concern surrounding accepted as a best practice is hydraulic bolt

Stud heater and slug wrench

A standard hydraulic bolt tensioner fits over the stud and nut. Its threaded adapter grips the
exposed threads above the nut. Using hydraulics, the stud is stretched, and the nut can be freely
Hydraulic Torque Wrench turned down to the flange face.

26 Turbomachinery International • March/April 2018 www.turbomachinerymag.com

 tensioning. Benefits include repeatabil- The standard hydraulic bolt ten-
ity and accuracy, as opposed to the high sioner needs space to fit around the nut.
variance in pre-load that exists with the The hydraulic rod tensioner, on the
heat and slug wrench method, as well other hand, uses a perforated nut to
as the bolt torque method. allow the tensioner to use rods to push
The problem of friction between through the nut and tension the stud.
threads is another area that is resolved This perforated nut makes it possi-
by bolt tensioning. Friction develops in ble to tension studs that were originally
the threads of the nut and bolt, as well done with torque and therefore did not
as when the nut is being tightened onto have the stud length to allow proper
the flange itself. This tends to gall the thread exposure above the nut for the
material. As a result, the nut can stick standard tensioner to grip onto.
and needs to be cut off. There are many different types of
The hydraulic rod tensioner needs a foot print no bigger Even if the nut does not gall and hydraulic bolt tensioner available on
than that of the original heavy hex nut. This kind of stick, friction remains a problem. The the market. Various suppliers have de-
tensioner allows the studs to be as close as possible to amount of friction can vary from bolt veloped tools which can be used in dif-
one another, which is often the case with many of to bolt which leads to preload varia- ferent situations. As well as off-the-
today’s flange designs. tion. Friction also tends to cause the shelf items, specialty designs are
bolt to wind up, which relaxes over available.
time and loses its initial clamping
force. Hydraulic bolt tensioning elim-
inates this issue.
For applications that do not have Pat McCormack, Di-
enough spacing between the studs for rector of Business
a tensioner, or there are not enough Development at
threads exposed above the nut for a Riverhawk Com-
standard tensioner to grip onto, a hy- pany. For more in-
draulic rod tensioner can be used. The formation visit,
hydraulic rod tensioner was developed www.riverhawk.com,
for applications with a very tight radial call 315/768-4855 ext. 144 or email
Hydraulic rod tensioner
footprint. pat.mccormack@riverhawk.com

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www.turbomachinerymag.com Turbomachinery International • March/April 2018 27