Analytical Study on Yield Resistance for Staggered Arranged High Strength Bolted Frictional Joints

The yield resistance of a high strength bolted frictional joint is evaluated based on the designed net cross-section area. The Japanese Specifications for Highway Bridges specifies a designed net cross-section area could be increased by a factor of 1.1 in the verification of the net cross-section yield resistance at Serviceability Limit State in high strength bolted frictional joint where the bolts are placed in grid arrangement. In the design of a staggered arranged high strength bolted frictional joint, the width of strip to be deducted from the transverse section on account of a staggered arrangement w is used. And the width of strip w is negative when p(2)/(4g) is larger than d(0). However, the designed net cross-section area of a staggered arranged high strength bolted frictional joint is unclear. In this study, FE analysis of staggered arranged high strength bolted frictional joint was carried out by varying the number of bolts in the top column k and the gauge distance transverse to the loading g as parameters. The results indicated that in some cases, the ratio of the net cross-section yield resistance predicted by FE analysis to the designed net cross-section yield resistance may be less than 1.1, but a factor of 1.1 can be applied with a suitable arrangement.