Construction work uses several varieties of tools. These tools help in the construction of the building and also help it in remaining stable for a long time in situations like earthquakes and other natural disasters. These tools can only be operated by unskilled labor rather than trained and experienced workers. These tools are used to construct several sophisticated structures that are difficult to design and build. One of these tools is bolt tensioning equipment, commonly referred to as a bolt tensioner. The bolt is preloaded during bolt tensioning, extending it before the nut is tightened. The tensioner presses on the flange of the surface, being fastened and secured to the bolt’s threads. This ensures clamping power by giving the bolt a highly uniform flexibility.
What is a bolt tensioner? What are its uses?
Bolt tensioners are used throughout the globe, mainly in Europe and the US, especially the hydraulic bolt tensioning equipment frequently employed for bolting applications on almost every occasion. These hydraulic tensioning are regularly utilized on fasteners with a relatively large bolt diameter and can be used in studs with a thirty-four-inch diameter or more. Tensioners are not so frequent in sectors related to oil and gases, but they are utilized plenty in underwater structures, primarily subsea and wind turbines. They can be used in the oil and gas sector for tensioning tools like fasteners in crucial bolted joints such as exchangers and several other substantial pressure vessels.
When employing hydraulic bolt tensioners, it is usually claimed that you may reuse stud nuts more frequently since you will not be concerned about galling or other frictional pressures on the fastener. This may be the case in laboratory settings, but in the outdoors, you must consider factors like pressure and temperature that will impact the fasteners throughout time.
All of the devices use externally generated hydraulic pressure that is directed to produce the optimal force necessary to load the target bolt to the proper tension. This pressure is created using ordinary pumping equipment. By employing the Direct Tension technique, workers may increase the effectiveness of the process and significantly increase operator safety while avoiding over-tensioning bolts, threaded fastener galling, and the requirement for rework.
Hydraulic tensioning works with the help of some basic parts that work together to make it work. These are-
- Nut- It is on the same side as the tensioner. It ensures that everything sticks together and the bolt goes through the nut.
- Load cell- This sits just above the nut and consists of the essential part of a tensioner, a hydraulic piston.
- Puller bar- it is the uppermost part that resides above the piston. This decides how much pressure is going to be exerted on the pull.
So this was to give you a basic idea about the hydraulic bolt tensioning equipment, and just so you know, it is more complex than what I have explained here; this was more of a brief, so you get an image in your mind of its uses a working.
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