• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.83 no.3
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• pp.341-351
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• 2022

During bolted flange assembly, the contact stiffness of some areas of the joint surface may be low due to the elastic interaction. In order to improve the contact stiffness at the lowest position of bolted flange, the correlation model between the initial bolt pre-tightening force and the contact stiffness of bolted flange is established in this paper. According to the stress distribution model of a single bolt, an assumption of uniform local contact stiffness of bolted flange is made. Moreover, the joint surface is divided into the compressive stress region and the elastic interaction region. Based on the fractal contact theory, the relationship model of contact stiffness and contact force of the joint surface is proposed. Considering the elastic interaction coefficient method, the correlation model of the initial bolt pre-tightening force and the contact stiffness of bolted flange is established. This model can be employed to reverse determine the tightening strategy of the bolt group according to working conditions. As a result, this provides a new idea for the digital design of tightening strategy of bolt group for contact stiffness of bolted flange. The tightening strategy of the bolted flange is optimized by using the correlation model of initial bolt pre-tightening force and the contact stiffness of bolted flange. After optimization, the average contact stiffness of the joint surface increased by 5%, and the minimum contact stiffness increased by 6%.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.445-455
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• 2022

Steel anchor bolts are installed in concrete using a variety of methods. One of the most common methods of anchor bolt installation is using epoxy resin as an infill material injected into the drilled hole to act as a bonding material between the steel bolt and the surrounding concrete. Typical design standards assume uniform stress distribution along the length of the anchor bolt accompanied with single crack leading to pull-out failure. Experimental evidence has shown that the steel anchor bolts fail owing to the multiple failure patterns, hence these design assumptions are not realistic. In this regard, the presented research work details the analytical model that takes into consideration multiple micro cracks in the infill material induced via impact loading. The impact loading from the Schmidt hammer is used to evaluate the bond condition bond condition of anchor bolt and the epoxy material. The added advantage of the presented analytical model is that it is able to take into account the various type of end conditions of the anchor bolts such as bent or U-shaped anchors. Through sensitivity analysis the optimum stiffness and shear strength properties of the epoxy infill material is achieved, which have shown to achieve lower displacement coupled with reduced damage to the surrounding concrete. The accuracy of the presented model is confirmed by comparing the simulated deformational responses with the experimental evidence. From the comparison it was found that the model was successful in simulating the experimental results. The proposed model can be adopted by professionals interested in predicting and controlling the deformational response of anchor bolts.