Instruction Bulletin no. MP.IB.EM.04.38.09 (Rev.0.

00)

Government of India,
Ministry of Railways
Research Designs & Standard Organisation
Manak Nagar, Lucknow 226 011

Instruction Bulletin no.MP.IB.EM.04.38.09 (Rev.0.00)

1.0.

Dated 17.12.2009

TITLE: Instructions on identification of cold rolled HT fasteners.

2.0
BACKGROUND: Several types of hardware are used on diesel
locomotives. Use of improper hardware (bolts/screws) results in premature
failures and high consumption. The subject was studied by RDSO in respect of
gear case screws and correct material specification and heat treatment procedure
was advised to Railways vide report no.MP.MI-125/85 May, 1999 (Rev.01)
Maintenance Instructions for Traction Motor Gear Case.
2.1
Use of proper fasteners will lead to lower failures and reduction in over all
cost over a period of time. It is found that due to various reasons, units are unable
to buy good quality hardware from the market. Inadequate information on
identification of rolled Vs machined and High tensile/ Mild steel (HT/MS) fasteners
is one of the reasons.
2.2
The long-term remedy to arrest premature failure of fasteners is to use
High Tensile bolts/screws with rolled thread in place of machined ones that are
cheaper and freely available. The purpose of this bulletin is therefore to advise the
units regarding easy identification of bolts/screws made with rolled thread vis--vis
those made with machined threads.
3.0
OBJECT: The objective of this bulletin is to impart information for easy
identification of High Tensile fasteners manufactured by extrusion process (rolled
thread) as against those manufactured by machining process.

4.0
DETAILS OF STUDY/ EXPERIMENTATION DONE: In machine cut
screws, the threads are usually cut by chasers in a screwing machine. In this
process, the steel is cut away from a rod to form the threads. In this process,
longitudinal grain fibers of the parent rod also get cut. As a result of this the
surface finish and the strength of the bolt gets depleted and a higher torque is
required to achieve the required elongation/ tension.
4.1 The thread rolling process is a cold forming process in which the steel is
extruded to form the threaded portion of the fastener instead of being removed as
in cut threading. The rod is rolled through a set of threading dies which displaces
the steel and forms the thread. The surface finish thus obtained is much superior
to machined surface, also the grain fiber is not cut in the process and takes the
contour of the thread profile making the bolt much stronger. The rolled threads are
generally up to 20% stronger than machine threads.

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Instruction Bulletin no. MP.IB.EM.04.38.09 (Rev.0.00)

Rolled thread

Machine/Chased thread

Cylindrical-die machines: (a) two-die type; (b) three-die type.

(This is one of the method of thread rolling. Others are Flat-die rolling and
Single roll holder.)
4.2
Advantages of rolled threads: Rolled threads have improved surface finish
and physical properties as compared to those manufactured by other methods.
These bolts are made with the smaller cross section of bar as compared to
machined bolts, therefore, lesser material is used in a cold rolled bolt compared to
machining leading to saving in cost. The material saving at the threaded portion of
M-36 size (for example) would be approx 15% and the surface finish would be in
the range of 4 to 32 micro inches compared to 63 to 250 micro inches for
machined threads.

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Instruction Bulletin no. MP.IB.EM.04.38.09 (Rev.0.00)

4.2.1 The cold extrusion process which takes place in rolled forming produces a
work hardened surface with up to 10% increase in tensile strength. In addition,
due to higher the surface hardness and extrusion finish, the wear characteristics
properties are greatly improved. Rolled threads also have superior shear strength
as the material grains are reformed into continuous lines along the thread contour.
4.2.2 The cold extrusion process also increases the fatigue life of the bolt by up
to 10 times as compare to machined thread

5.0

APPLICATION TO CLASS OF LOCOMOTIVES: All diesel locomotives.

6.0. INSTRUCTION CONTENT: Maintenance personnel should be aware of the

difference between Mild steel (MS), High tensile (HT) and rolled/ machined thread
screws to enable them to identify wrong supplies. Some major guidelines inter
alia, are given below;
6.1 Visual check:
High tensile Vs MS screws: The grade marking on the head of the bolt should
be checked. MS screws have a marking of 4.6 whereas HT screws have
marking 8.8, 9.8. 10.9 or 12.9. HT screws are blackish in color as they are heat
treated. MS screws, on the other hand, have shining color of steel. Some small
manufacturers may mark the head of MS screws with high tensile grade and
blacken it to mislead the purchasers. It is, therefore, necessary to follow visual
identification by hardness test as per the defined property class.
Rolled Vs machined threads: Examination of the surface of screws can be a
good tell-tale check, while the former is smooth, the latter is rough. On pickling
a screw in acid, the roughness is visible. Since the grains are cut in machined
threads, cut marks can be observed on the flank.
6.2 Metallurgical examination: In machined threads, the grains are in
longitudinal direction and are cut during the machining process. In Rolled
Threads, the grains are continuous and do not get cut, they flow along the
contour of the thread of the bolt due to plastic deformation during thread-rolling
process. A longitudinal section may be taken from the threaded portion and
observed under microscope after polishing and etching. The grain pattern can be
examined to determine the process used for making the threads. the pattern can
be seen in the diagram below;

Typical grain flow: (a) in a rolled thread; (b) in a ground or machined thread.

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