Reprint from Fastener World Magazine, Vol. 150

In the world of fastener engineering, all too often the joint designer gets focused on the wrong things; torque, locking mechanisms, degrees of rotation, and a number of other sundry items, at the expense of focusing on the most important element, joint tension. Of course, this is understandable since torque and angle are the fundamental measures the industry uses in tightening critical joints. Additionally, torque and angle are easily measured and reasonably easily controlled. However, it is the tension that holds the joint together, which makes
it supremely important both at installation and over the service life of the joint. Therefore, it is critical that the joint designer generates sufficient tension so that the joint can perform safely immediately after tightening, but also years down the road after relaxation and other diminishing effects have acted on the joint.