Crank bolt clamp force
Crank bolt clamp force
Anybody ever so bored they calculated the crank pulley bolt clamp force?
1991 Audi 200q Holset
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
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Noisy Cricket
- Posts: 225
- Joined: Sun Mar 24, 2013 11:19 pm
- Location: Cleveland, OH
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
I would assume based on the way the stock sintered crank pulleys seem to fail on high horsepower cars, it's ALMOST enough to overcome the torsional harmonics of joining the crank damper to the front of the engine...
Pete, that rallycross guy
'06 Volvo S60 R (Swedish GTR)
'84 RX-7 (bridge ported, fuel injected, way modified dirt buggy)
'86 QSW (MC2 goes here. Eventually.)
'81 RX-7 (restoration project)
'73 RX-3 (poor man's Mk2 Escort)
'06 Volvo S60 R (Swedish GTR)
'84 RX-7 (bridge ported, fuel injected, way modified dirt buggy)
'86 QSW (MC2 goes here. Eventually.)
'81 RX-7 (restoration project)
'73 RX-3 (poor man's Mk2 Escort)
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Thats a good point. The unknown history motor I had to shotgun-rebuild was the only pulley of three where the outer portion of the pulley hadn't walked around the damping material. I may just be bored enough someday to calculate this myself 

1991 Audi 200q Holset
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
I think I misunderstood what you were saying but I got it now. I'll just leave my anecdote up there anyway
1991 Audi 200q Holset
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Welp, I had a moment (lol) and my machine design book handy, so I took a crack at it.

Tl;dr 30,000 lbf, give or take. Probably a little less, since I just assumed the friction coefficient for the diamond washer is standard steel on steel, since I don't have that info handy.

Tl;dr 30,000 lbf, give or take. Probably a little less, since I just assumed the friction coefficient for the diamond washer is standard steel on steel, since I don't have that info handy.
Kevin (Sven)
- 1991 200 20vt K24-7400 AAN
- 1991 200 20vt Avant K24-7400 VEMS
- 1992 Audi V8 5-speed swap + ABZ
- 2002 Audi S8 6-speed swap
- 1979 Audi Fox quattro 20vt
- 2003 RS6 6mt Stage 2
- 1991 200 20vt K24-7400 AAN
- 1991 200 20vt Avant K24-7400 VEMS
- 1992 Audi V8 5-speed swap + ABZ
- 2002 Audi S8 6-speed swap
- 1979 Audi Fox quattro 20vt
- 2003 RS6 6mt Stage 2
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Lol that's awesome thanks Sven 
I haven't seen this kind of math in about 6 years (out of college for MET). Good work!

I haven't seen this kind of math in about 6 years (out of college for MET). Good work!
1991 Audi 200q Holset
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Glad you did it so I didn't have to Kevin LOL
I would have needed my book though anyway.
I would have needed my book though anyway.
-Chris
'91 Audi 200 20v - Revver/BAT project
'91 Audi 200 20v Avant
'01 Anthracite M5
'90 M3
'85 Euro 635csi
'12 X3
E34 530i (maybe rear-mount soon)
'91 Audi 200 20v - Revver/BAT project
'91 Audi 200 20v Avant
'01 Anthracite M5
'90 M3
'85 Euro 635csi
'12 X3
E34 530i (maybe rear-mount soon)
- themagellan
- Posts: 873
- Joined: Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:36 am
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
proud...
I still think I could do 30k lbs with a 3/8th with enough anger....
I still think I could do 30k lbs with a 3/8th with enough anger....
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Hahaha reminds me of the first time I pulled the crank bolt. I only had 3/8" extensions at the time, so I popped one on there and immediately sheared it.
Fun fact: Clamp force can be roughly approximated in most cases by F = 4.75*T/d, where T is the torque, and d is the thread diameter. This is because the coefficients of d in the denominator can be factored out and remain almost entirely constant regardless of the bolt, due to the similar proportions of different-sized bolts. Using this approximation, the clamp force comes out to 28,150 lbs.
And don't you worry, Chris, I needed my book too
Fun fact: Clamp force can be roughly approximated in most cases by F = 4.75*T/d, where T is the torque, and d is the thread diameter. This is because the coefficients of d in the denominator can be factored out and remain almost entirely constant regardless of the bolt, due to the similar proportions of different-sized bolts. Using this approximation, the clamp force comes out to 28,150 lbs.
And don't you worry, Chris, I needed my book too

Kevin (Sven)
- 1991 200 20vt K24-7400 AAN
- 1991 200 20vt Avant K24-7400 VEMS
- 1992 Audi V8 5-speed swap + ABZ
- 2002 Audi S8 6-speed swap
- 1979 Audi Fox quattro 20vt
- 2003 RS6 6mt Stage 2
- 1991 200 20vt K24-7400 AAN
- 1991 200 20vt Avant K24-7400 VEMS
- 1992 Audi V8 5-speed swap + ABZ
- 2002 Audi S8 6-speed swap
- 1979 Audi Fox quattro 20vt
- 2003 RS6 6mt Stage 2
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Wha... wait a second! The only diamond washer I'm aware of is on the later AAN motors and goes between the damper and the nose of the crankshaft. So it wouldn't have any effect on the bolt's torquing and the clamping force.
Is there another one I'm not aware of?
Is there another one I'm not aware of?
Be alert! America needs more lerts.
Eric Law
'12 A4Q completely boringly stock
'90 80Q with AAN and Megasquirt
'97 Saab 9000 Aero: sold 5/2017, sorely missed
Eric Law
'12 A4Q completely boringly stock
'90 80Q with AAN and Megasquirt
'97 Saab 9000 Aero: sold 5/2017, sorely missed
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
elaw wrote:Wha... wait a second! The only diamond washer I'm aware of is on the later AAN motors and goes between the damper and the nose of the crankshaft. So it wouldn't have any effect on the bolt's torquing and the clamping force.
Is there another one I'm not aware of?
Yeah, I'm gonna be honest, I'm just going off memory here, and I just assumed that the diamond washer that people had talked about was the one that goes with the crank bolt. It never occured to me that they might be two different things. Wait, there is a washer with the crank bolt, right?
In any case, I just assumed the collar had the same friction coefficient as the threads
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Kevin (Sven)
- 1991 200 20vt K24-7400 AAN
- 1991 200 20vt Avant K24-7400 VEMS
- 1992 Audi V8 5-speed swap + ABZ
- 2002 Audi S8 6-speed swap
- 1979 Audi Fox quattro 20vt
- 2003 RS6 6mt Stage 2
- 1991 200 20vt K24-7400 AAN
- 1991 200 20vt Avant K24-7400 VEMS
- 1992 Audi V8 5-speed swap + ABZ
- 2002 Audi S8 6-speed swap
- 1979 Audi Fox quattro 20vt
- 2003 RS6 6mt Stage 2
Re: Crank bolt clamp force
Lol this really took off. On the 3B I didn't come across any washers on the crank.
1991 Audi 200q Holset
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ
1991 Audi 200q Felbaum'd
1988 Audi 5000 TQ