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BOLT MODELING FOR CRASH ANALYSIS
Altair Technical Team
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INTRODUCTION
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Introduction
Objective
• The goal of this study is to show how to use different bolt modeling techniques for crash analysis using Altair
Radioss
Solutions used:
• Altair Radioss version 2023
• Altair HyperWorks version 2023
Unit system:
• Mg, mm, s
3
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Bolt modeling for Crash
Different Modeling Approaches
• The following Bolt modeling techniques are evaluated in the article
Rigid bolt Rigid bolt with Rigid bolt with Deformable bolt Deformable bolt Deformable bolt
spring spring and with 1D element with 3D element with initial
pretension pretension pretension stress
Accuracy increase
4
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MODEL SETUP
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Model Setup
Geometry & Mesh
• The model consists in four plates:
• Inner plates modeled with Solid elements
• Outer plates modeled with Shell elements
• Average element size of 5 mm
• One Bolt in the middle, connecting all plates
• Different bolt modeling techniques are evaluated
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Model Setup
Load Case
• A boundary condition fixing all Degrees of Freedom is applied on two opposite faces of the lower
solid plate
• Pretension is applied (when applicable) at the first 0.05 seconds
• An imposed displacement of 10 mm is applied on two opposite faces of the upper solid plate
Imposed Displacement - Nodes Imposed Displacement - Curve
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MODEL 1 – RIGID BOLT
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Model 1 – Rigid Bolt
• 1 Rigid Body connected to the part there the bolt is linked
• Advantages:
• Simple to model
• Very stable
• Drawback:
• No force output
• No pretension
• No elasto-plastic behavior and rupture modeling
• Can not model the bolt head passing through the hole
• Remark:
• The master node should be a free node (it should not belong to other elements)
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MODEL 2 – RIGID BOLT WITH SPRING
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Model 2 – Rigid Bolt with Spring
• 2 rigid bodies connected to each set of parts which are linked with the bolt
• 1 spring element between both rigid bodies
• Advantages:
• Simple to model
• Very stable
• Force output through the bolt – Normal force, Shear force and Moments
• Possible to define elasto-plastic rupture in any direction
• Often used in automotive crash analysis
• Drawback:
• Limited capability to model the pretension
• Can not model the bolt head passing through the hole
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Model 2 – Rigid Bolt with Spring
• Radioss Cards:
• /RBODY
• /SPRING
• /PROP/SPR_BEAM
• /TH/SPRING – Spring forces output
• Remark:
• The master node should be a free node
• The spring element is attached to the rigid bodies as slave nodes
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MODEL 3 – RIGID BOLT WITH SPRING PRETENSION
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Model 3 – Rigid Bolt with Spring and Pretension
• 2 rigid bodies connected to each set of parts which are linked with the bolt
• 2 spring elements between both rigid bodies
• 1 spring element between both rigid bodies to model the pretension
• (Series of springs)
• Advantages:
• Simple to model
• Very stable
• Force output through the bolt – Normal force, Shear force and Moments
• Possible to define elasto-plastic rupture
• Drawback:
• Can not model the bolt head passing through the hole
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Model 3 – Rigid Bolt with Spring and Pretension
• Radioss Cards:
• /RBODY
• /SPRING
• /PROP/SPR_BEAM
• /PROP/SPR_PRE
• /TH/SPRING - Spring forces output
• Remark:
• The master node should be a free node
• The spring element is attached to the rigid bodies as slave node
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Model 3 – Rigid Bolt with Spring and Pretension
• Modeling Details
Node 1 (Attached to Rigid body 1)
/PROP/SPR_BEAM:
/PROP/SPR_PRE: Spring to model all DoF of the bolt
Spring to model the pretension behavior except tensile/compression
which must be released
Node 2
/PROP/SPR_BEAM:
Spring to model all DoF of the bolt
behavior
Node 3 (Attached to Rigid body 2)
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MODEL 4 – 3D BOLT WITH 1D ELEMENT PRETENSION
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Model 4 – 3D Bolt with 1D Element Pretension
• Bolt modeled with 3D and 1D elements
• 2 rigid bodies connected to each side of the bolt
• 2 spring elements between both rigid bodies
• 1 spring element between the both rigid bodies to model the pretension
• Advantages:
• Can model the bolt head passing through the hole
• Force output through the bolt – Normal force, Shear force and Moments
• Possible to define elasto-plastic rupture
• Easy to define the pretension force value
• Drawback:
• Complex modeling
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Model 4 – 3D Bolt with 1D Element Pretension
• Radioss Cards:
• /BRICK
• /RBODY
• /SPRING
• /PROP/SPR_BEAM
• /PROP/SPR_PRE
• /TH/SPRING – Spring forces output
• Remark:
• The master node should be a free node (it should not belong to other elements)
• The spring element is attached to the rigid bodies as slave nodes
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MODEL 5 – 3D BOLT WITH 3D ELEMENT PRETENSION
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Model 5 – 3D Bolt with 3D Element Pretension
• Bolt modeled with 3D elements.
• A section force through the bolt
• A preload card with the target force or target stress value
• Advantages:
• Model directly the reality Section + Preload
• Can model the bolt rupture
• Can model the bolt head passing through the hole
• Allow to absorb the contact gap between parts
• Drawback:
• Need a regular mesh on the section where the preload is defined
• The element height in the section needs to be big enough to absorb the bolt retraction
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Model 5 – 3D Bolt with 3D Element Pretension
• Radioss Cards:
• /BRICK
• /SECT
• /PRELOAD
• /TH/SECT – Force/Moment output in the section of the bolt
• Remark:
• The rupture and stress accuracy depends on the mesh size
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MODEL 6 – 3D BOLT WITH INITIAL STRESS
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Model 6 – 3D Bolt with Initial Stress
• Bolt modeled with 3D elements.
• Initial stress value assigned to the bolt
• Advantages:
• Model directly the reality
• Can model the bolt rupture
• Can model the bolt head passing through the hole
• Drawback:
• Need initial stress card which can be defined with an initial analysis
• Need that all parts are initially in contact
Initial Stress
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Model 6 – 3D Bolt with Initial Stress
• Radioss Cards:
• /BRICK
• /SECT
• /INIBRI/STRS_F
• /TH/SECT – Force/Moment output in the section of the bolt
• Remark:
• Section in the bolt is necessary to measure the forces passing through the hole
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RESULTS
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Model 1 – Rigid Bolt
No data available
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Model 2 – Rigid Bolt with Spring
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Model 3 – Rigid Bolt with Spring and Pretension
Pretension Value
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Model 4 – 3D Bolt with 1D Element Pretension
Pretension Value
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Model 5 – 3D Bolt with 3D Element Pretension
Pretension Value
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Model 6 – 3D Bolt with Initial Stress
Pretension Value
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Conclusion
• The most used modeling approach is the Rigid Body with Spring (/TYPE13). This modeling can be
directly generated in HyperWorks or HyperCrash via connectors
• For achieving the most accurate results, the approach involving Solid Bolt with 3D element
pretension is preferred
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REFERENCES
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References
For more information:
Related Knowledge Base Articles: Related Radioss Documentation:
• 3D Bolt Pretensioning using HyperWorks 2022.1 for • /RBODY
Radioss 2022
• /SPRING
• Radioss solid mesh Bolt preloading with 1D spring
element • /PROP/TYPE13 (SPR_BEAM)
• Using /STATE to initialize elements in Radioss • /PROP/TYPE32 (SPR_PRE)
• /PRELOAD
• /INIBRI/STRS_F
• /TH/SPRING
• /SECT
• /TH/SECTIO
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