1School of Mechanical Engineering, University Science Malaysia, Engineering Campus, Seri Ampangan, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Seberang Perai Selatan, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
2Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Bolted joints are widely used in industries e.g. pressure vessels, automobiles, machine tools, home appliances etc., so it is becoming increasingly important to accurately predict the behavior of bolted joints.
The tightening of bolted joints can be divided into two basic categories, where the screw is utilized either in its elastic or plastic region. When tightening bolted joints high stress concentration usually occurs around the thread root because of complex geometry it causes the plastic deformations primarily around the bottom of thread roots even under relatively low axial bolt force. This plastic deformation can significantly affect the behavior of bolted joint.
In present study an attempt made to understand the behavior of the bolted joints and the stress concentration factor when loaded statically with uni-axial external loads. Also an attempt has been made to minimize the error between experimental results and FEM simulated results by selecting the exact number of element and selecting suitable yield criteria. Linear finite element analysis method is used to determine the stress concentration factor of the threads in bolted connection.
Stress concentration factor, FEM, Von mises, Tresca criteria, bolted joint, thread
