Squirter® DTI FAQs
SQUIRTER® DTIs Test Results
How well do SQUIRTER® DTIs work?
In 2008 the University of Toronto, at the request of Applied Bolting,
subjected Squirter® DTI's to independent testing with the objective of
determining just how accurately they work. Using outside disinterested
workers, who were asked to follow Applied's calibration instructions and
then to tighten bolts blind using just Squirter® DTIs, and then by checking
actual bolt tensions using ultrasonic measurement, they found that Squirter® DTIs
gave them almost exactly the tension they were aiming for.
Here's the University of Toronto report in summary form as delivered to the Research Council on Structural Connections (RCSC) June 2008 meeting:
Download Report in PowerPoint (2.5 MB pps) format
Download Report in PDF format
When bolts are tightened just to the point where the "squirt event" told the installer to stop tightening, Babcock and Wilcox found the DTI bumps were compressed just right, "...99% of the time ..."
On this job, we've got an owner's inspector out here that goes around and checks EVERY DTI with a feeler gage, and 99% of the time he doesn't find anything wrong. The squirt already told us that the bolt was tightened right, and that's what the inspector finds. He doesn't have to do all this feeler gage checking - he just wants to. ....Richard Oliver
Interested in more comments on how SQUIRTER® DTIs work, take a look at these testimonials
The University of Idaho did some blind tests on several hundred pieces. After tightening until the squirt told them to stop, they measured a mean preload of 1.10 times minimum, and a standard deviation of just 7%! That's very good indeed.
