Are they using the highest grade bolts possible or not getting the proper high grade bolt installed?
Are they using the highest grade bolts possible or not getting the proper high grade bolt installed?
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I suspect they are using the best bolts they can get their hands on. There is a very stringent bolt tightening protocol they are supposed to follow that involves a schedule of checking the torque at various points in time after installation... I’m not sure how well that gets followed and I’ve had my suspicions with a few failures that I’ve seen.
However, this is no different than bending a paper clip back and forth until eventually, it cracks. There are parameters that you can change that will provide a different number of cycles before it will crack but if the stresses are above the endurance limit for the metal in question, it will eventually fatigue. I suspect that most of the IWTs that are out there, the bolts simply have to be changed out every X number of years and that’s all there is to it.