Patent ID: 6668441
Filing Date: 2003-12-30
Classification: B64G,F16B,Y10T

Abstract:
A method for fastening a threaded stud to project above a first surface of a composite laminated structure in a substantially leakproof manner as to cryogenic liquid gases, where said composite laminated structure is subject to crushing above a predetermined pressure and delamination under excessive tension, said method comprising the steps of:forming a through aperture through said composite laminated structure at the location at which said stud is to be installed, said through aperture having a first diameter adjacent said first surface of said composite laminated structure, a frustoconical surface in the form of the frustum of a cone lying adjacent a second surface of said composite laminated structure, and a second diameter, smaller than said first diameter, in a region lying between said frustoconical surface and said portion of said aperture having said first diameter: installing an internally threaded insert from said first surface into said aperture so as to fasten said insert within that portion of said through aperture having said first diameter; obtaining a bolt including a head, a nonthreaded shank portion adjacent said head, and a threaded portion remote from said head, said threaded portion of said shank mating with internal threads of said internally threaded insert, said bolt being made from a material having a known coefficient of thermal expansion less than the coefficient of thermal expansion of said composite laminated structure; obtaining a generally cylindrical collar made from a material having a particular coefficient of thermal expansion and a thickness, said collar having a bore about an axis no greater in diameter than the diameter of said nonthreaded shank, and an overall diameter about said axis no less than the diameter of said cone adjacent said second surface, said collar further having a planar first end surface orthogonal to said axis, and a second end surface, said second end surface including a peripheral planar annulus parallel with said surface of said first end, and also including a depressed frustoconical portion in the shape of a frustum of a cone depressed below said planar annulus; assembling onto said bolt (a) a first k seal including a conical portion, with said conical portion of said first k seal facing away from said head of said bolt, (b) said collar, with said depressed portion facing said first k seal, and (c) a second k seal including a conical portion, with said conical portion of said second k seal facing away from said first surface of said collar, to thereby generate an assembled bolt; inserting said assembled bolt through said aperture from said second surface of said composite laminated structure, and threading it through said insert, so as to cause a portion of said threaded portion of said bolt to protrude from said first surface of said composite laminated structure; and when the coefficient of thermal expansion of said collar is selected in conjunction with said coefficient of thermal expansion of said bolt and with the thickness of said composite laminated structure in such a manner that the pressure applied by said assembled bolt to said composite laminated structure does not change substantially over an expected temperature range, torquing said bolt into said insert to achieve a value of said pressure in said composite laminated structure which is less than said pressure at which said composite laminated structure crushes.