Wrench aids accurate torque audits

A SE Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Dec 17, 2002

A novel electronic torque wrench incorporates modes which can eliminate the false readings often encountered in auditing bolted joints after the assembly process.

Auditing bolted joints after the assembly process is a common practice in many automotive plants to ensure manufacturers maintain a high quality standard.

The normal procedure is that an audit engineer will go to the process stations and using a dial wrench or maybe an electronic wrench connected to measuring box to register the level of torque.

The operation is to further tighten the joint and record the level of torque to move the fastening in the further tightening clockwise direction.

This type of auditing has some major problems: if the joint sticks then a very high value of breakaway torque could be seen, and this value may not be representative of the seated torque generated by the process tool.

The most accurate method to audit fastenings is to use the back-to-mark method.

This involves making a mark on the bolt head and fixing, loosening the fastening, reversing the direction to tighten to the original marked position, and finally recording the torque level at marked position.

A second method is to use the dynamic torque mode, which can be used to remove the first few degrees of torque measurement while overcoming the areas of high-level torque due to sticking joints and registering the true value of the joint.

Both these advanced methods can now be achieved using the GWK Quan-tek electronic torque and angle wrench.

For the back-to-mark method a new armless angle measurement mode automatically displays the angle in both directions and gives an audible warning at the exact point of return, and indicates the true value to which the joint had been originally tightened.

For dynamic torque mode users can set the tool to not register the starting torque for a predetermined range of angle.

This means the user can set the wrench to measure the level of torque after the point where the joint break away.

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