The Ultimate Guide To Hydraulic Stud Tensioners

The Ultimate Guide To Hydraulic Stud Tensioners

Hydraulic stud tensioners are annular jacks used to tighten a fastener. Tensioning is the practice of stretching a bolt towards the direct axis to achieve preload. With a hydraulic stud tensioner, you can eliminate the inaccuracies created due to friction and reduce manual efforts. In this article, you’ll know about the applications, advantages, and working of hydraulic stud tensioners. 

 

Why do you need a hydraulic stud tensioner?

The integrity and reliability of a plant are greatly affected by bolted connections. Without using advanced technology, there can be severe reliability and disassembly speed concerns that can possess a threat of injuries. With hydraulic stud tensioners, you can gain a great level of productivity, accuracy, and safety on various critical joints across the industry. It also helps you to ensure that the operations conducted on the job site are leak-free, save you money & time, and keep your workspace safe. If you want to deliver a completely leak-free bolted assembly, you need to apply an adequate amount of compressive load to the gasket. This can only be achieved with the help of a hydraulic stud tensioner because it’s accurate, safe, and fast. The reason why it’s so accurate is that it is capable of delivering precise bolt loads to your joints. Moreover, in comparison to torqueing, hydraulic tensioners allow you to eradicate the need for simultaneous gasket compression and cross-talk. It also reduces the chances to gall threaded fasteners drastically. Due to this, it’s a great tool to avoid delays and reworks and makes your work faster. Furthermore, hydraulic stud tensioners use a hands-free technology that makes them safer and minimize accidents on the job site. 

 

Advantages of hydraulic stud tensioners 

While holding a bolt or stud, you must ensure that the fasteners are stretched at assembly with the required force to keep the joint clamped. In case the studs are too high or too low, the joints can fail. That’s when a hydraulic stud tensioner comes into place. It helps you regulate the costs resulting from inaccurately tightened studs. Here’s why hydraulic stud tensioners are the perfect equipment for an array of applications: 

 

A)     Repeatable and accurate stud loading

The process of tightening with hydraulic stud tensioners is fairly simple. It’s just a hydraulic cylinder that serves a special purpose. The applied tension to a stud is a direct function of the hydraulic pressure supplied by the pump and the area of the hydraulic cylinder. Moreover, as these variables are controllable, the tensioning process is highly accurate. Due to this, hydraulic stud tensioners allow you to load and tighten studs accurately in a repeatable manner. 

 

B)     Labor and time saving 

You can easily use multiple hydraulic stud tensioners at the same time to make your work efficient. It’s faster to use a stud tensioner than a torque wrench. For instance, if you use a hydraulic tensioner for every stud on a flange, you can reduce the tightening time by 50%. Moreover, with a single hydraulic stud tensioner for every two studs, you can reduce the time by 33%. 

 

C)     Uniform stud loading 

While tightening, you need to make sure that you apply an even load to all the studs, especially on the ones with gaskets. For applications with more than one stud, it is recommended to use multiple hydraulic stud tensioners. All the tensioners need to be interconnected with one another and the pump. So, when the pressure increases, it will create equal tension on each stud and the flanges will be aligned together evenly and simultaneously. 

 

D)     Safety and ease of use 

The best thing about hydraulic stud tensioners is that they have a high power-to-weight ratio. Due to this, they are less bulky, lighter, and easier to use in comparison to torque tools. Even a single operator can conduct most of the applications with minimum effort. The operator only needs to manage handles and parts like puller bar, bridge, and load cell. Even the combined weight of these parts is lesser than that of a hydraulic wrench and socket. They’re also safer and quieter than bolt heaters or wrenches. 

 

How Do Hydraulic Stud Tensioners Work? 

To begin the process, the tensioners are fitted over the nut or bolt that requires to be tightened. Then, to ensure a proper puller engagement, the tensioners push against the joints and pull the bolt from the end. While doing this, an operator needs to maintain a minimum of one bolt dia above the nut. As the bolt tensioner’s force is exerted directly to the end of the bolt, the jack’s generated laid equivalent is applied to the shank of the bolt. 

 

Bottom Line  

So, that was all you need to know about hydraulic stud tensioners. Now you’ll surely be able to work with this tool more efficiently. 

 

Content Sources:- ABSGroup 

 

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