Study on self-loosening Mechanism of Bolted joint under rotational vibration

Abstract The self-loosening failure of bolt connection will bring a series of problems. Sakai first proposed the self-loosening theory of nut fixed and free bolt head under rotational vibration. Based on this theory, this paper proposed a more extensive self-loosening theoretical criterion under the boundary condition of free nut and free bolt head under rotational vibration. The theoretical analysis shows that there are two forms of self-loosening failure under the new boundary conditions, which are the bolt head self-loosening failure and the nut self-loosening failure. Combining with the finite element analysis, it is shown that the self-loosening theory proposed in this paper is in good agreement with the simulation results. It is concluded that the self-loosening mechanism of the first case is caused by the complete slipping of the bolt head bearing surface and the thread surface. In the second case, the self-loosening is caused by the complete slipping of the thread surface and nut bearing surface. Local slipping does not cause loosening failure, which is different from the loosening mechanism under transverse vibration. Finally, the influence of several factors on bolt loosening is studied. The results show that the vibration amplitude and initial preload have great influence on bolt loosening, while the vibration frequency has little effect on bolt loosening.