Numerical modeling and analysis of nonlinear dynamic response for a bolted joint beam considering interface frictional contact

For an assembled structure with many bolted joints, predicting its dynamic response with high fidelity is always a difficult problem, because of the nonlinearity introduced by friction contact between jointed interfaces. The friction contact results in nonlinear stiffness and damping to a structure. To realize predictive simulation in structural dynamic design, these nonlinear behaviors must be carefully considered. In this paper, the dynamics of a multi-bolt jointed beam is calculated. A modified IWAN constitutive model, which can consider both tangential micro/macro slip and nonzero residual stiffness at macroslip phase, is developed to model nonlinear contact behaviors due to joint interfaces. A whole interface element integrating the proposed constitutive model is developed. The element is used to model the nonlinear stiffness and damping caused by bolted joints. The interface element is placed between the two contact interfaces. The other part of the beam is modeled by linear beam elements. A Matlab code is developed to realize the proposed nonlinear finite element dynamic analysis method. A hammer impact experiment for the bolt-jointed beam is conducted under different excitation force levels. The calculated nonlinear numerical results are compared with experimental results. It is shown that the effect of joint nonlinearity on structural dynamics can be observed from the response predicted by the proposed method. The numerical results agree well with the experimental results. This work validates the necessary of using nonlinear joint model for dynamic simulation of jointed structures.