Introduction
Industry 4.0 is the term related to the future and the change towards using Next-gen technologies that are mainly rely on automation. To align with modern industrial demands, need next-generation fastening tools like power torque wrenches and torquing services for faster, smarter, more accurate to produce efficient joints than ever before.
1. Knowing The basics
Let us recap what is Torque and a wrench to understand Torque wrenches better.
Torque
In simple words, torque is the tendency of a force to turn or twist.
Wrench
A Wrench is a tool used to provide torque to turn objects. The most common shapes are open-end wrench and box-end wrench. Generally, they are chrome-plated to resist corrosion and for ease of cleaning.
Torque Wrench
A torque wrench is an advanced version of wrench used to tighten and loosen nuts and bolts to a predetermined torque value. These are operated either mechanically, pneumatical, Hydraulic or Electrically
2. How Torque Wrenches works
The amount of torque is applied mainly depends on the amount of force applied on the wrench handle and the length of the wrench. It contains an internal indicator that connects to a calibrated scale. When the indicator reaches the desired torque, stops the twisting of the bolt or nut.
To show the amount of torque is being applied, it consists of a dial indicator or display screen for reading the torque. Applying controlled torque is an important element for the safety and performance of the equipment.
3. Different types of advanced Torque Wrenches and their uses for various Torqueing services
Here are some of the Next Gen torque wrenches for advanced torquing services.
Beam Torque Wrench
Beam torque wrenches are considered as the basic type of torque wrenches for torquing services. These are not expensive and easy to use. It consists of a scale and once the required torque is achieved, it stops twisting the bolt. These are preferred for tightening or loosening small to medium bolts and nuts.
Click Torque Wrench 
A click torque wrench gives a noticeable sound when the set torque is reached. It has a spring-loaded lever which is adjusted by twisting the handle to the right setting. When the required torque level is obtained, the lever breaks which creates a “clicking” noise.
Dial Torque Wrench
Dial torque wrenches are commonly considered as one of the most accurate to use among other torque servicing tools like Beam and click type wrenches. In addition to the use in the automotive industry, these tools are used in the aerospace and defence industries.
Electronic Torque Wrench
In electronic torque wrenches, a strain gauge is attached to the torsion rod for the measurement of the torque. Then the signal produced by the transducer is converted to the required torque.
One of the popular applications of electronic torque wrench is for quality assurance purposes and the benefits of the electric torque wrench are that it fits into any wall outlet and it runs quite silent. An electric torque wrenches are vibration controlled and provide an extreme amount of repeatability and accuracy.
Hydraulic torque wrenches
Hydraulic torque wrenches are highly recommended for torquing services like tightening large torques with high accuracy. They are used in oil and gas, heavy machinery, bridges, automobile, and aviation industry. There are basically 2 types of hydraulic torque wrenches namely – square drive and low profile
In this torque wrench, the piston is connected to a ratchet through a reaction pawl assembly, which drives it to engage the ratchet teeth in the advance mode, to rotate the nut. Subsequently releases during piston retraction to reengage in the next push position. This repeats until the desired torque is met.
Pneumatic torque wrench
A Pneumatic Torque Wrench is an air operated and motor-driven planetary gearbox has a very high reduction ratio. The gearbox consists of a reaction arm to absorb the torque reaction. Unlike an impact wrench, a pneumatic torque wrench is operated by continuous gearing and therefore, not noisy & hazardous.
These pneumatic torque wrenches primarily used for torquing services where accurate torque is required and or where rusty and tight nuts need to be removed.
4. Do they need calibration
To ensure torque wrenches provide precise and accurate measurements, they must be calibrated periodically. It is important to calibrate instruments periodically, as their accuracy may decrease over the period of time and with usage. The allowed maximum range of calibration error is 5%. Any error beyond this value may potentially be affecting the performance of the tool quite seriously. This could lead to accountability for product failure.
Content Source :- ABSGroup
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