STUDY ON MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF BOLTED JOINTS BASED ON EXPERIMENT AND THREE-DIMENSIONAL FINITE ELEMENT

Three-dimensional finite element model of a bolted joint has been developed in the non-linear finite element code MSC.Marc and attempts were made to validate it by comparing results with those of experiments and other finite element.Issues in modeling the contact between the joint parts,interference and pre-stress were presented.Experimental measurements of surface strains and load transfer ratio(LTR) were compared with results from finite element analysis.The results show that three-dimensional finite element model of bolted joint produces the result in close agreement with experimental results.Three-dimensional finite element analysis assists to study the effects of different parameters on the mechanical behaviour of single lap bolted joints.The simulated results may be serving as reference for damage tolerance design of the similar structures.