Experimental and Numerical Studies of Bolted Lap Joints at Elevated Temperature

Abstract

AbstractThis paper presents an experimental and numerical studies of bolted double lap joints at ambient and elevated temperatures. Nine experiments conducted at the Czech Technical University in Prague investigated the mechanical behavior of bolted lap joints at 20°, 400° and 600°C. The design strengths of steel joints subjected to tensile forces are predicted using European standards for steel structures. The general finite element (FE) software ABAQUS/Standard 6.14 is employed for the numerical analysis. In this work, different numerical models are prepared to investigate a modeling technique of the bolted joints The plates are modelled using solid and shell elements and the bolt is represented by solid element and a combination of beam elements coupled to surfaces. All the studied models consider the contact behavior. The numerical models are validated using data from experimental tests. The analytical model serves for verification of numerical models. The validation and verification approved the numerical models. Consequently, the modeling techniques used in this research can give reasonable results to predict the resistance bolted joints at elevated temperature and can be used to predict the resistance in design level.