ABSTRACT
There are many mathematical models describing the propagation of elastic waves through the imperfect boundary of two media. They were successfully applied to modelling of high frequency bulk waves and their interaction with local defects. On the other hand, the existing literature models of bolted connections ignore the aspect of imperfect connection between elements. Therefore, this paper presents the concept of application of a thin layer of shell finite elements to simulate disturbance propagation in a pretensioned bolted joint. The analyses were conducted in two stages. In the first stage, the contact analysis was made to determine the pressure distribution between the joined elements. Next, assuming linear relation between contact pressure and contact layer stiffness, dynamic explicit analysis was performed. The comparison between experimental and numerical results showed the possibility to apply this approach to more accurate modelling of elastic wave propagation.
