Padeye

File:US Navy 100105-N-6604E-007 Aviation Machinist's Mate Airman John Wagner connects a tiedown chain to a padeye on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69).jpg

An Aviation Machinist's Mate connecting tiedown chains to padeyes on the flight deck of the aircraft carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69)

A padeye is a device often found on boats that a line runs through, or provides an attachment point. It is a kind of fairlead and often is bolted or welded to the deck or hull of a boat.

It is also used in oil and gas projects to assist in the purpose of lifting.

Detail

It's made of steel plate with radius at one side. lifting is done with the help of a D-shackle or sling, which fits into the hole of the padeye. There may be one or more circular plates (cheek plates) welded around the hole.

Designing

The following check should be done for the design of padeyes and to keep the stress less than the allowable stresses:

At the hole:

1. Bearing stress

2. Shear stress

3. Tensile stress

4. Hertz Bearing stress

At the base

1. Shear stress

2. Tensile stress

3. Bending stress

4. Combined bending stress and tensile stress

5. Von-Mises stress

A spreadsheet is more often used for this purpose.