Tutorial On-Line

Here you will be able to see two typical uses of SureBolt. You will see the actual SureBolt screens and be shown the values you would enter on each screen. Even though example #1 only has three basic steps, we will show you every single screen and every possible parameter you may want to take advantage of.

But first, let us see what the two typical uses of SureBolt are:

Manufacturer #1 wants to put a known amount of pre-load into their bolted joint. They only care about pre-load, not how the tension may change weeks later. Their target tension is 3500 lbs, plus or minus 200 lbs (3300 to 3700 lbs tension).
They only care about one bolt at a time. (this could easily be expanded to do multiple bolts around a flange). The temperature is not expected to change enough in the 10 seconds it takes to tension the bolt, so temperature change will not be measured. Their main concerns are two types of tension errors and recording these tensions:

A torque wrench is OK 95% of the time, but 5% of their bolts have pre-load tension errors greater than 50%.

Some of their technicians use slightly different torqueing techniques, so the bolt tensions vary depending on who trained the technician.

They want to track the success or failure of this new bolt tensioning program by recording each bolt's pre-load tension. Each bolted joint has a bar-code serial number. Therefore the SureBolt file name will contain the bolted joint's serial number for tracking purposes.

Also note: They will tension the bolts from the nut end. The magnetic transducer (connected to SureBolt) will be left on the head of the bolt during the 10 seconds it take to reach the target tension (3500 lbs). The head of the bolt is flat and smooth. All ultrasonic techniques require a flat-smooth surface: no raised letters, or dimples. But, SureBolt is more "forgiving" than any other bolt gage.

Manufacturer #2 wants the same benefits as manufacturer #1, but with the additional capability to measure the bolt tension days or weeks later. Therefore they will also have to:

keep track of the bolt temperature changes using any reasonably repeatable temperature probe,

learn how to put the ultrasonic transducer on and off the bolt in a repeatable fashion,

protect the surface of the bolt so that corrosion does not affect their future measurements.

Note: It does not matter which end of the bolt they use. But they must be consistent. They must keep track of which end was used --- SureBolt has a "Field Notes" feature that would be perfect for this.

The head (or nut end) of the bolt is flat and smooth. Again, all ultrasonic techniques require a flat-smooth surface: no raised letters, or dimples. But, remember, SureBolt uses the whole echo, so SureBolt is more "forgiving".

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Two Typical Uses Of SureBolt

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