20-mm  diameter steel rod         A=314.16 mm2         E=200 GPa    α=12.0×10-6/C

The figure shows a rod attached to rigid walls on the left and right. The rod is screwed into the wall and bolted firmly on the right. A 15 millimeters diameter bolt connects the rod to a rigid wall on the left.

In this problem, the magnitude of the temperature decrease is unknown. However, the magnitude of the allowable force that can be induced in the steel rod is limited by the capacity of the bolted connection.