CAD Forum

In Simulation, when using bolted connections (Simulation connectors, not parts that are bolts), is it possible to find out the stresses in the simulated bolts? If so, how?

I don't think you have access to the stresses. You can RMB the Results and click List Connector Forces to get some high-level info. From that, perhaps hand-calcs could give you what you need about the bolts themselves?

Short of that, I think you have to model the bolts directly so you can control the mesh and contact aspects appropriately. Depending on the situation you might want to neck the modeled fastener so you can approximate the tensile and bending stiffness of the fastener, but still have zero-gap contacts with any threaded connections.

I've attached a few pdfs on the bolt connectors that I've pulled from the knowledge base over the years. The first one says:

The Bolt Connector formulation approximates the behavior of a real bolt and works by calculating resultant forces, not stress distributions. Therefore, SOLIDWORKS Simulation does not provide von Mises stress results for bolt connectors.

However, you could still manually calculate the stress within a bolt by first calculating the axial, shear, and bending stresses. Then, calculating the principal stresses. Finally, you can combine the principal stresses into von Mises stress.

ryan-feeley wrote: ↑Sat Jan 06, 2024 8:35 pm I don't think you have access to the stresses. You can RMB the Results and click List Connector Forces to get some high-level info. From that, perhaps hand-calcs could give you what you need about the bolts themselves?

Short of that, I think you have to model the bolts directly so you can control the mesh and contact aspects appropriately. Depending on the situation you might want to neck the modeled fastener so you can approximate the tensile and bending stiffness of the fastener, but still have zero-gap contacts with any threaded connections.

I've attached a few pdfs on the bolt connectors that I've pulled from the knowledge base over the years. The first one says:

Thanks Ryan, I appreciate the help.