Smart Bolts

[northwest]

These look quite the thing https://smartbolts.com/ They have an indicator at the head of the fastener indicating they are torqued to the correct setting. Very useful in some applications I would imagine, I would further imagine they are horrendously expensive.

 

[123hotchef]

wow, I wonder how accurate they are!

 

[Pete.]

wow, I wonder how accurate they are!

Very accurate I should imagine. All that needs to happen is the red top of the pin mo es away from the viewing glass a tiny fraction.

 

[Beanwood]

They look good - now if they did a nut version that would save buying an expensive torque wrench for Land Rover wheel bearings - even at £5 they would be cheap

 

[Maker]

They look good - now if they did a nut version that would save buying an expensive torque wrench for Land Rover wheel bearings - even at £5 they would be cheap

The nut version would be a "Direct tension indicator", or DTI. Essentially a washer with lumps on it.

The bumps get squashed which indicates the fastener was tightened enough, they also do ones which squirt out a bit of orange dust to show the bumps have been compressed. These obviously don't indicate a bolt working loose like the smart bolts do. Neither of them indicate "too tight" either, so both useless for bearings.

 

[Beanwood]

The nut version would be a "Direct tension indicator", or DTI. Essentially a washer with lumps on it.
View attachment 457614

The bumps get squashed which indicates the fastener was tightened enough, they also do ones which squirt out a bit of orange dust to show the bumps have been compressed. These obviously don't indicate a bolt working loose like the smart bolts do. Neither of them indicate "too tight" either, so both useless for bearings.

Well at 350Nm ( I never worried about over tightening (Although I have just seen that’s been reduced to 230Nm about 20 years ago- where does the time go…

 

[Nomad]

A clever idea and ideal as you can watch the indicator if you are using a spanner, I looked for prices but can't see any online. My guess is between "not cheap" and "How much!!"

Odd that they do a hex cap head - using an allen key (or a ratchet / t-bar / breaker bar) means you can only check after you remove the key...

 

[AVI_8]

A clever idea and ideal as you can watch the indicator if you are using a spanner, I looked for prices but can't see any online. My guess is between "not cheap" and "How much!!"

Odd that they do a hex cap head - using an allen key (or a ratchet / t-bar / breaker bar) means you can only check after you remove the key...

Appear to be between 18 and 50 dollars per bolt.
Think I’ll stick with the torque wrenches.

 

[arther dailey]

some use for un skilled fitters , not a lot of use on head bolts or where socket is being used though , depends on accuracy they are made to a lot as well I would think .

 

[Maker]

Odd that they do a hex cap head - using an allen key (or a ratchet / t-bar / breaker bar) means you can only check after you remove the key...

The intention isn't to replace a torque wrench for installation , it's for in-situ inspection.

Suppose you had to inspect a bridge, with traditional bolts you'd have to touch every single bolt to ensure it's tight, maybe even get a torque wrench on it and make sure it still clicks, that could take weeks. With Smart bolts you just have to look at them and check there's no red spots, these days you might even do it with a drone from the comfort of your van.

 

[lchris21]

some use for un skilled fitters , not a lot of use on head bolts or where socket is being used though , depends on accuracy they are made to a lot as well I would think .

probably aimed at plant operators during routine checks....quick visual on key components add to the checklist for the fitter to go and check. Good idea in theory, but some of the bolts ive come across in industry on critical plant, you'd be hard pressed to find the bolt, let alone head let alone see what colour it is

 

[bricol]

I was looking at them some years ago, as well as bolts with strain gauges giving electrical ouput embedded in them - want to give a warning of potential failure in a machine that would start to then overload a mounting bolt elsewhere. When downtime costs millions, a few hundred quid on a special bolt isn't a problem.

Avoided doing it by looking around the brief given to me, and sorting the problem that was causing the issue in the first place.

 

[Maker]

bolts with strain gauges giving electrical ouput embedded in them

They'll have LoRaWAN and be web enabled next, no need for even a visual inspection, you'll just get an alert on your phone that your bridge is about to collapse.

 

[Robotstar5]

We used the lo-tech approach, once the bolt is torqued to spec put a paint pen mark across the bolt head and onto whatever it passes through, paint line misalignment shows it's moved.

 

[cheb]

The intention isn't to replace a torque wrench for installation , it's for in-situ inspection.

Suppose you had to inspect a bridge, with traditional bolts you'd have to touch every single bolt to ensure it's tight, maybe even get a torque wrench on it and make sure it still clicks, that could take weeks. With Smart bolts you just have to look at them and check there's no red spots, these days you might even do it with a drone from the comfort of your van.

The regime on the wind turbine I keep an eye on is that a certain proportion are checked yearly. I'm not sure how they select which ones to check but they are marked once checked.

 

[Wozzaaah]

A clever idea and ideal as you can watch the indicator if you are using a spanner, I looked for prices but can't see any online. My guess is between "not cheap" and "How much!!"

Odd that they do a hex cap head - using an allen key (or a ratchet / t-bar / breaker bar) means you can only check after you remove the key...

A reply from Smartbolt to a youtube comment says they "start at $20"

 

[bricol]

We used the lo-tech approach, once the bolt is torqued to spec put a paint pen mark across the bolt head and onto whatever it passes through, paint line misalignment shows it's moved.

Not quite the same - you can get a lessening of the bolt tension, ie tension in the joint, without the bolt head moving.

 

[JOEPRO]

There are some very smart bolts here too

 

[Ton-up]

SmartBolts are ordinary bolts retrofitted with a gage pin affixed in the bolt shank. As the bolt stretches, the gage pin moves with the stretch, and this minute movement causes our visual indicator to predictably change color. This provides the user with an accurate measure of bolt tension.


________________________________________

Surely getting a ordinary bolt and drilling it, with 2 or 3 sizes of drlll, would weaken it significantly??

 

[Wozzaaah]

Surely getting a ordinary bolt and drilling it, with 2 or 3 sizes of drlll, would weaken it significantly??

Looking at who their partners are, I think they've probably done more than a little R&D.