bolt torque linear force

Yes. That is the torque required to further tighten the bolt.

No.

I though of this shortly afterward. Someone mentioned a LOT of loss to friction. I think there MUST be. If it were a perfect 'gear', You could HOLD it at 200ft/lbs with a torque wrench, but as you release the wrench, it would wind back out, at the same force, like a spring. So, how about this thought? Tighten the bolt to 200 ft/lbs, then measure how much torque to Loosen the bolt. Subtract that from 200, then divide by two. The remainder is the actual torque going to the stretch, maybe. If the bolt was just 50% loss torque, after tightening to 200 ft/lbs, you could wind it out with almost no effort, since

Right. Torque wrench right in the mouth. kind of thing.

No there is a lot of distortion / plastic yield and such on the mating surfaces, that will not be symmetric on an initial "torque reversal".

If you've tightened to 200 ft/pounds, then it'll be 175 to 200 ft/ pounds on reversal.

Thank God it is, or we'd have to loc-tite or stake *everything*.

David A. Smith