Fatigue behavior of a bolted assembly - a comparison between numerical analysis and experimental analysis

The fatigue behavior of a bolted assembly can be analysed, either by fatigue tests, or by computing the stress variations and using a fatigue curve. This paper presents the fatigue analysis of a stud-bolt and stud-flange of a steam generator manway carried out with the two methods. The experimental analysis is performed for various levels of load, according to the recommandations of the ASME code section III appendix II. The numerical analysis of the stresses is based on the results of a finite element analysis performed with the program SYSTUS. The maximum stresses are obtained in the first bolt threads. In using these stresses, the allowable number of cycles for each level of loading analysed, is obtained from fatigue curves, as defined in appendix I section III of the ASME code. The analysis underlines that, for each level of load the purely numerical approach is highly conservative, compared to the experimental approach. (orig.)