Bolt Pattern Shear Calculator
Bolt pattern shear combines direct shear shared by the bolts and tangential force from a moment about the bolt-circle center.
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Moment component
Applied moment creates a tangential shear component at each bolt on the bolt circle. Larger BCD lowers this component for the same moment.
F_t = M / (N * BCD / 2)
Direct component
Direct shear is divided by bolt count. The calculator keeps this component visible separately from the moment component.
F_v = V / N
Conservative sum
The worst-case bolt is where the direct and tangential vectors align. A full vector calculation at the actual angle is equal or lower for this circular pattern.
F_max = F_v + F_t
Useful follow-up
After solving pattern shear, check bolt shear strength, plate bearing stress, hole edge distance, tear-out, prying and the selected factor of safety.
Related pages
- Bolt pattern force calculator - working bolt-group shear demand calculator.
- Bolt shear strength calculator - compare worst-bolt demand against bolt capacity.
- Bolt bearing stress calculator - check plate bearing after the bolt-group force split.
- Bolt circle coordinate calculator - lay out evenly spaced bolt holes on a BCD.
- Weld group calculator - parallel eccentric-load workflow for rectangular weld groups.