Technical Bulletin No.

1-05

Nut Compatibility
There has been much discussion in the

exceeds the capacity of the nut. However,

industry recently regarding the compatibility when a nut is packed in with a bolt, it is fair
to presume the nut will be compatible with
of nuts for use with high tensile bolts.
the bolt right up to the bolts Ultimate Tensile
According to reports, some suppliers
Strength (UTS). Clearly that would not be
have been claiming that it is acceptable
possible in the above case study.
to use a nut of a lower strength than the
bolt. This assertion is not true in general
circumstances and as a blanket statement Compatibility
The following table shows the minimum
is quite misleading. The following is an
grade or class of nut suitable for use with
extract from the Industrial Fasteners
Institute Fastener Standards Sixth Edition. bolts commercially available in Australia.
For medium carbon and alloy steel
bolts, screws and studs, any nut with a
specied proof stress equal to or greater
than the specied minimum tensile
strength of the externally threaded
fastener should perform satisfactorily.

Bolt Type

Matching Nut

Mild Steel BSW

Property Class 4.6
Property Class 8.8
Property Class 10.9
Grade 5 UNC
Grade 8 UNC
Grade 5 UNF
Grade 8 UNF
Black Structural Bolts
Galv Structural Bolts

AS 2451 28 Tonf PL
AS 4291.2 Class 5
AS 4291.2 Class 8
AS 4291.2 Class 10
SAE J995 Grade 5
SAE J995 Grade 8
SAE J995 Grade 5
SAE J995 Grade 8
AS 1252 Class 8
AS 1252 Class 8

Joint Design
In simple terms, engineers design
joints around the strength of the bolt not
the nut, so the bolt has to be the limiting
component in the joint. If the nut is weaker,
the nut becomes the limiting component
and thread stripping could cause the joint
Nut Marking
to fail at a load less than that expected by
the joint designer. In no circumstance is the There are several different types of nut
nut allowed to fail before the bolt fractures. markings being used in Australia. The
drawings below show the most common.
Case Study
Ajax EF was recently supplied with a
bolt and nut combination for testing. The
bolt was correctly marked as Grade 8 but
the nut had no markings at all and was a
Grade 8 or Class 10
Grade 8
Grade 5 or Class 8
bright colour rather than the deep black
usually associated with heat treated nuts.
Hardness testing of the nut revealed a
10
hardness of 95 Rockwell B scale. This
8
equates to a tensile strength of about
Class 5
Class 8
Class10
Class 5
Class 8
Class
10
102,000 lbf/in2; well below the 150,000 lbf/
in2 of the bolt.
In some instances, a nut of lesser
strength than the bolt may be acceptable,
provided the load applied to the bolt never
BSW Mild Steel
Structural Class 8
Ajax Engineered Fasteners
(A division of Global Engineered Fasteners ABN 95 091 040 989)
76-88 Mills Rd Braeside Vic 319
PH (03) 9586 6666 Fax (03) 9586 6840 www.ajaxfast.com.au

TB 1-05 May 2005 Page 1 of 1