Direct tension indicator washer

A joint assembly comprising:

• at least one joint member;
• an externally threaded member having a bearing surface;
• an internally threaded member having a bearing surface in threaded engagement with an end of said externally threaded member;
• and a pre-load indicating washer disposed between said internally threaded member and an opposite end of said externally threaded member and comprising an annular body and a plurality of protuberances integral with said annular body struck and partially sheared from said annular body to project from a first face of said annular body and leave a corresponding plurality of indentations in a second face of said annular body opposite from said first face, each of said protuberances being curved in outline with no portion of said protuberances extending:
• (a) radially outward beyond the outer periphery of said bearing surface of said externally threaded member when said pre-load indicating washer is positioned adjacent said externally threaded member, and
• (b) radially outward beyond the outer periphery of said bearing surface of said internally threaded member when said pre-load indicating washer is positioned adjacent said internally threaded member, and
• each of said protuberances defined by:
• (a) a pair of outer side walls extending away from said first face of said annular body, and
• (b) an outer surface extending between said pair of outer side walls and between two spaced regions of said first face of said annular body, and
• each of said indentations being curved in outline and defined by:
• (a) a pair of inner side walls extending through said annular body from said second face of said annular body and from which a pair of outer side walls of one of said protuberances has been sheared, and
• (b) an inner surface extending between said pair of inner side walls and between two spaced regions of said second face of said annular body.