[Towertalk] structural assumptions// rope--bolts

[Zac Smith]

if your gonna use it for ANY tower structure application go with A325
galvanized bolts, you can buy em from sabre comm, tell me what size you need
and ill send ya the part # and their fone #, rhon has good galvanizing but
theyre too damn proud of theyre bolts, they want to much for em

Zac
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Rauch" <w8ji@contesting.com>
To: <towertalk@contesting.com>; <jimlux@earthlink.net>
Sent: Thursday, June 13, 2002 4:08 AM
Subject: Re: [Towertalk] structural assumptions// rope--bolts


> > > *  Bolts specified for racecar use are NOT necessarily stronger than
> > > or appropriate for tower use.  They MAY be; it depends on what they
> > > were used for.  You need to know the specs to know.
> > >    My personal recommendation is to go with Rohn galvanized hardware
> > > everywhere.  Zero doubts.  Zero rust.  Worth the price.
>
> I've had original equipment Rohn bolts rust.
>
> I also doubt you'll find any reasonable quality hardened or stainless
> bolts weaker than the Rohn bolts. Not that it matters, because even
> the Rohn bolt is considerably harder than the material in the tower
> legs at the joints.
>
> > Higher strength bolts can also be stiffer, and can actually take more
> > of the load as a result.  I would imagine that the average tower isn't
> > a "ragged edge of material science" design, but, the designer does
> > choose bolts according to their stiffness and stretch under load.
>
> This sure isn't rocket science. Any hardened bolt of reasonable
> quality will work in a cross-bolted tower joint, the only major
> consideration is rust or corrosion. Flange-joint towers are another
> matter.
>
> The bolts in a cross-bolted tower joint only serve as "pins". They
> are not under stretch or compression, they are only under shear
> forces. Long before the tightening load stretches a hardened bolt of
> almost any grade, you would crush and weaken the joint.
>
> Critical fasteners in cars are a different matter entirely, and can't
> be compared to cross-bolted joint tower bolts. Many fasteners in cars
> MUST be stretched because the bolt is in tension only under part of
> the load cycle, and relaxed in others. Others have wide operating
> tension ranges from temperature changes. (This is worlds apart from a
> fastener that primarily under shear.) You **must** select a bolt
> that, when tight, pre-loads with tension greater than the zero at the
> minimum load condition and has know amounts of stretch, otherwise the
> fastener will quickly work-loose or fail. (Many Caddy V-8 owners
> learned this when GM used the wrong headbolt design, and anyone with
> a race car knows it.) Virtually all automotive fasteners stay tight
> because of stretch, where the bolt or stud actually deforms and
> elongates. That's true even with lug nuts.
>
> In cross-bolted towers, the legs are considerably weaker than even
> fairly poor bolts. The holes will elongate long before even cheap
> poorly made bolts will shear. In an application like this, all you
> have to do is satisfy a minimum shear strength and hardness in the
> bolt. Stretch is unimportant and undesirable, since all of the
> materials around the bolt are much weaker than the bolt and will give
> first.
>
> The only real worry is if the bolts look ugly from surface rust after
> time, which Rohn bolts sometimes do.73, Tom W8JI
> W8JI@contesting.com
>
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