Bolted Joints - Design and Control

The general design criteria relating the stiffness of the assembly member of a bolted joint to the nature of load distribution among the members in the assembly is reviewed in this paper. However in many bolted joints, failure occurs due to factors not accounted for in these basic design equations. This paper describes several examples of bolted joint failure and some of the factors which contributed to these failures. A review of thread production methods and problems, bolt tightening, and bolt load distribution is also covered.