What does “about to have a come apart” actually mean? This failure is unique in that there were 2 contributing factors — in the highlighted circles, notice the visible thread width difference in red. Also, pay attention to the broken bolts in yellow. This failure was caused by overtightening of the bolt in red during installation. On the night of the failure, temperatures dropped to “once in a decade” kind of lows. The additional strain from overtightening and thermal contraction overwhelmed the smaller bolts in yellow. The result looks like Popeye’s spinach can. Want to learn about more failures and how to prevent them? Visit us at the Eastern Gas Compression Roundtable on May 7-9, 2024 at the David Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh.

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