FREE BOLTED CONNECTION DESIGN

SkyCiv Bolted Connection Design

This bolted connection design tool checks the bolts and the connected material for shear, tensión, Llevando, corte de corte y corte de bloque, contra AISC 360-16 (ASD y LRFD) y AS 4100:2020.

A bolted connection joins two or more members with a threaded bolt, a nut and usually washers. Unlike a weld it can be designed to come apart again, which is what makes it practical to inspect, replace or reinforce later.

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Contenido

About Bolted Connection Design

How a structure is joined decides how it behaves. Bolting competes with welding, riveting and pinning, and it stays the common choice across steel frames, bridges and heavy machinery because the joint can be assembled on site and taken apart again.

Designing one means checking every way it can fail: the bolts in shear and tension, and the connected plates in bearing, corte de corte y corte de bloque. This page covers those checks and the tool runs them.

What is a Bolted Connection?

A bolted connection is a mechanical assembly joining two or more structural elements with a threaded bolt, a matching nut and usually one or more washers.

Welding makes a permanent joint. Bolting can be either, which is the practical difference: the same detail can be specified for a joint that will be dismantled during maintenance, or one that never will.

Types of Bolted Connections

Connections are classified by how load crosses the joint:

  • Bearing-type: the plates are allowed to slip slightly until the bolt shank bears against the side of the hole. Load then transfers through direct shear on the bolt body and bearing pressure on the connected material.
  • Slip-critical (friction-type): high-strength bolts are tensioned so the plates are pinched together, and friction between the faying surfaces carries the load with no slip at all. This is the choice under fatigue, dynamic load reversal or severe vibration.

The distinction drives the design. A bearing-type joint is checked against bolt and plate strength; a slip-critical joint is checked against the clamping force holding the faying surfaces together.

Key Failure Modes to Consider

  1. Cizalla de perno: the applied force exceeds the shear strength of the bolt shank across the shear planes.
  2. Bolt tension: axial tension pulls the bolt apart, usually at the threaded region where the cross-section is reduced.
  3. Plate bearing: the bolt crushes the hole wall or the edge of the connected plate.
  4. Tear-out: a bolt placed too close to the plate edge tears the material away.
  5. corte de bloque: a block of material at the end of the connection tears out, shearing along one plane while pulling apart along an intersecting one.

All five have to be checked. The bolts are rarely the weakest part; Llevando, tear-out and block shear in the connected material govern often enough that skipping them is how a connection gets under-designed.

Streamlining Bolted Connection Design with SkyCiv

Working the five failure modes by hand against AISC 360-16 o AS 4100:2020 is slow, and slow checking is where arithmetic errors come from. Automating it moves the effort to deciding what to check rather than doing the sums.

  • Model 3D connection geometry in a web browser, from a library of over 80 tipos de conexión AISC preconfigurados.
  • Run automated capacity checks for shear, tensión, bearing and block shear to AISC 360-16 y AS 4100:2020.
  • See stress distribution, force transfer and likely failure points.
  • Produce calculation reports for client submission and authority approval, with the clause behind each check cited.
  • Issue CloudCAD detail drawings with bolt schedules and dimensions, and export the geometry to IFC for BIM coordination.

Advantages and Best Practices

  • Velocidad de erección: bolting on site needs less specialised labour than field welding, so the steel goes up faster.
  • Quality control: high-strength bolts are made to standard in a factory, so their properties are known before they arrive.
  • Inspection: torque, tension and alignment can all be checked without damaging the joint.
  • Adaptabilidad: a bolted member can be removed, replaced or reinforced without disturbing much around it.

Two things decide whether that holds up in service. High-strength bolts need a defined tensioning method to reach their specified preload, whether that is turn-of-nut, a calibrated wrench or direct tension indicators. And the assembly needs corrosion protection suited to the environment, through galvanizing, weathering steel or a protective coating.

Common questions about bolted connection design and how the checks are run.

Tus preguntas respondidas

Sizing the bolts and the connected material against every way the joint can fail: cizalla de perno, bolt tension, plate bearing, corte de corte y corte de bloque.

A bearing-type joint lets the plates slip until the bolt shank bears on the hole, and carries load through bolt shear and bearing. A slip-critical joint is tensioned hard enough that friction between the faying surfaces carries the load with no slip.

Where the joint sees fatigue, dynamic load reversals or severe vibration, and any relative movement between the plates would be a problem.

AISC 360-16, en TEA o LRFD, y AS 4100:2020. The report cites the specific clause behind each check.

The threaded length has a smaller cross-sectional area than the shank, so under axial tension that is where the bolt reaches its capacity first.

By a defined method rather than by feel: the turn-of-nut method, a calibrated wrench, or direct tension indicators. Slip-critical connections depend on reaching the specified preload.

It needs less specialised labour on site, so erection is quicker, and torque, tension and alignment can be inspected without damaging the joint. Bolted members can also be removed or replaced later.

SkyCiv Connection Design

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