Development of Thread Rolled Anti-Loosening Bolts Based on the Double Thread Mechanism and a Performance Evaluation

Abstract

It has already been proven that bolt fasteners based on the double thread mechanism have an excellent anti-loosening performance. The purpose of this study is to establish a mass production method for these double thread bolts (DTBs) by thread rolling. The pitch ratio of the coarse thread and the fine thread of the target DTB is set as 2 to 1. A two-die roller with a plunge feed is employed as the rolling method due to its fine processing precision. The roller dies used in the experiments have special grooves on the external surface which follow the same outline as the thread profiles of the DTB. Using these special dies, the DTB can be successfully formed in the same process as single thread bolts. The deformation of a workpiece during rolling is examined, and the examination shows that the formed material smoothly fills the die grooves in each cross section. The rolled DTBs completely pass the loosening test with extremely severe vibration and impact, as specified in NAS3354. The tensile fatigue strength of the rolled DTB is about 100% greater than that of the cutting DTB.