Monitoring of bolted joints – wireless, self-powered and retrofittable

Bolted connections are often used in critical, safety-relevant places such as bridges, wind turbines, vehicles or machines, where they are permanently exposed to high loads. To ensure the safety of these connections, they require permanent monitoring of the preload force.

Q-Bo^® measures precisely and transmits wirelessly

The smart screw connection Q-Bo^® enables wireless, self-powered monitoring of the preload force with the aid of a retrofittable sensor system: Using a special pressure and temperature thin film, known as the DiaForce^® film, the tightening force as well as the temperature of the screw connection is regularly determined at the assembly location and transmitted to a cloud via a standardized interface.

The standardized mioty^® radio technology is used to transmit the data, which is characterized by high energy efficiency and robustness over long distances.

The energy supply for the sensor and radio system is ensured by energy conversion from the immediate environment (energy harvesting). The smart screw connection Q-Bo^® contains a thermogenerator that converts the smallest temperature gradients at the screw head into electrical energy and thus operates the sensor self-sufficiently. Alternatively, the sensor and radio can also be powered by a solar cell or a small battery.

The smart screw connection Q-Bo^® enables precise measurement of the preload force during assembly and operation. Deviations can thus be detected immediately via remote maintenance and downtime or maintenance times can be avoided – a complete control of critical bolted joints.

Find out more about the smart screw connection Q-Bo^®, in which an integrated thin-film sensor system detects minimal changes in the preload force, transmits them wirelessly to a control unit and thus registers early detection of the loosening of a screw connection - wherever critical screw connections are used.