Overview and Discussion

The distribution of forces and moments over a bolt pattern is similar to the analysis of a
beam or a shaft. Applied loads are translated to the centroid of the pattern (analogous to the
neutral axis of a beam or shaft). The forces and moments at the centroid are then resolved
into axial and shear forces acting at the individual bolted joints. Axial forces are distributed
over a bolt pattern based on pattern's area, A, and moments of inertia, Ic.x and Ic.y. Likewise,
shear forces are distributed based on the pattern's area, A, and polar moment of inertia, Ic.p.

Note that we maintain the distinction that the forces are distributed to individual bolted
joints rather than individual bolts. The reason for this is that not all of the load applied to a
bolted joint is actually seen by the bolt, as discussed here.

Two common loading conditions are discussed in the next two sections, followed by a
discussion of the generalized approach for distributing applied loads over a bolt pattern.

In-Plane Eccentric Shear Load

The figure below shows a pattern with an eccentric shear load that is applied in the plane of
the pattern. The load is eccentric because it does not act through the centroid of the pattern.
Therefore, it induces a torsional moment about the Z-axis (perpendicular to the plane of the
pattern) that will tend to rotate the pattern about its centroid. In this case the bolts are
loaded in shear only (no axial loads), and the shear loads are due to a combination of the
direct shear force and the induced moment. Loading of this type is analogous to a shaft
under a combined shear and torsion load.

Out-of-Plane Eccentric Shear Load

The figure below shows a pattern with an eccentric shear load that is applied out of the
plane of the pattern. While this applied load passes over the centroid in the X-Y plane, its
line of action is offset from the centroid in the Z-direction. Therefore, the applied shear load
induces a bending moment about the X-axis which results in axial loading on the bolts.

There are several standard approaches to distributing axial loads among the bolts in a case
like this, all of which involve calculating the moment of inertia of the pattern about some
bending axis and then using (Mr/I)·A to distribute the loads. (It should be noted that if all of
the bolts in the pattern are the same size, then (Mr/I)·A simplifies to Mr / Σ r2 ). The key
difference in the standard approaches is the selection of the point about which the pattern is
assumed to pivot:

 One approach is to inspect the component geometry and to assume that the pattern
will "heel" about some reasonable point, say the base of the bracket in the figure
above.
 Another approach is to treat this problem as if the pattern were a beam in
bending and to calculate an appropriate location of the neutral axis.
o The methodology outlined in the AISC "Steel Construction Manual" recognizes that
on the compression side of the beam, the compressed area is equal to the contact
area of the components below the neutral axis. On the tension side of the beam, only
the bolts are in tension. The location of the neutral axis is found through an iterative
procedure by which the prospective location of the neutral axis is varied until the
moment of inertia of the bolts in tension above the neutral axis is equal to the
moment of inertia of the compressed plates below the neutral axis.
o A simpler approach considers only the bolt areas and assumes that the neutral axis of
the beam lies at the centroid of the bolt pattern.

It is important to recognize that as the assumed pivot location moves farther from the
pattern, the axial loads on the bolts are reduced. This fact holds true for all of the approaches
outlined above, but it is easiest to recognize when considering the simplified case where the
axial loads are directly proportional to Mr / Σ r2. Recall that r is the distance between the
pivot location and the bolt of interest. As r increases, the effect of the r2 term in the
denominator outpaces the effect of the r term in the numerator. Therefore, the most
conservative approach is to consider that the pattern pivots about its centroid.

Generalized Approach

If you decide to take the conservative approach of translating all applied loading to the
centroid of the bolt pattern, then it becomes easy to generalize the analysis of any bolt
pattern with any applied loading, as in the figure below.

The steps to distribute applied forces and moments to the individual bolted joints in the
pattern are:

1. Calculate relevant pattern properties (area, centroid, moments of inertia).

Details to perform each of these steps are provided in the following sections.

Bolt Pattern Properties

The same properties that are required when analyzing a beam or a shaft are also required
when distributing forces over a bolt pattern. It should be noted that the equations presented
in this section for calculating pattern properties do not require the bolts in the pattern to be
the same size.

Bolt Pattern Area

where Ai is the tensile stress area of an individual bolt.

Bolt Pattern Centroid

Just as bending stresses in a beam and torsional stresses in a shaft are centered about the
neutral axis, moments on a bolt pattern will tend to rotate the pattern about its centroid. The
location of the pattern centroid is calculated as:

where Ai is the bolt area and xi and yi are the x- and y- bolt locations, respectively.

It should be noted that this calculation is directly analogous to the calculation of the centroid
of a cross section.

Bolt Pattern Moments of Inertia

The moments of inertia of a bolt pattern indicate the ability of the pattern to resist bending
moments. We conservatively assume that moments will tend to cause the pattern to rotate
about its centroid, so moments of inertia about the pattern centroid are of interest. The
centroidal moments of inertia are calculated as:

centroidal moment of inertia about the X-axis

centroidal moment of inertia about the Y-axis

where Ai is the bolt area and rc.x,i and rc.y,i are the x- and y- distances of the bolt from the
pattern centroid, respectively.

The polar moment of inertia of the pattern indicates the pattern's ability to resist torsional
moments (i.e., moments about the Z-axis perpendicular to the plane of the pattern), and it is
calculated as:

where rc.xy,i is the shortest distance between the bolt and the centroid and is calculated as .
It should be noted that these calculations are directly analogous to the calculation of
the moment of inertia of a cross section and polar moment of inertia of a cross section.

Forces and Moments at Centroid

As discussed previously, all applied forces and moments are translated to the centroid of the
bolt pattern. As indicated in the figure below, any number of forces can be applied to the
bolt pattern at any location.

The forces at the centroid are calculated as the sum of all applied forces:

The moments at the centroid are calculated as the sum of all applied moments, plus the sum
of the cross product of each applied force with the vector from the centroid to the location
of that applied force:

In the equations above, the bars over the variables indicate that they are vectors. The
variable F is a force vector composed of the force components in each direction: Fx, Fy,
and Fz. Likewise, M is a moment vector composed of moments about each axis. R is a
location vector specifying the location of an applied force with respect to the pattern
centroid. The location vector R points from the centroid to the location of the applied force.

Forces on Individual Bolted Joints

Axial Forces

The axial forces are a result of the direct force in the Z-direction, Fc.z, the centroidal moment
about the X-axis, Mc.x, and the centroidal moment about the Y-axis, Mc.y. These forces and
moments are shown as red arrows in the figure below, acting at the centroid of the bolt
pattern. The blue arrows indicate the axial reaction forces at each bolted joint. Each blue
arrow represents a component of the axial force due to either the direct force in Z, the
centroidal moment about X, or the centroidal moment about Y. The calculation of these
reaction force components is the subject of this section.

The direct force in the Z-direction, Fc.z, is divided between the individual bolted joints
according to the bolt stiffnesses. Because the bolts are all assumed to have the same
material and length, the stiffness is dependent only on the tensile stress area of the bolt. The
axial force on a bolted joint due to the direct force in Z is calculated as:
where A is the area of the bolt in question. If the bolt areas are the same, the equation above
simplifies to Pz.FZ = Fc.z/n, where n is the number of bolts in the pattern.

The axial forces on a bolt due to moments about X- and Y- axes are calculated as:

axial force on bolt due to MX about centroid

axial force on bolt due to MY about centroid

where Mc.x and Mc.y are the centroidal moments about the X- and Y- axes, rc.x and rc.y are the
bolt distances from the centroid in the X- and Y-directions, and Ic.x and Ic.y are the pattern
moments of inertia about the X- and Y- axes.

If the bolt areas are the same, the equations above simplify to:

The total axial force on a bolt is the sum of the axial force components:

Paxial = Pz.FZ + Pz.MX + Pz.MY

Shear Forces

The shear forces are a result of the direct force in the X-direction, Fc.x, the direct force in the
Y-direction, Fc.y, and the centroidal moment about the Z-axis, Mc.z, as shown in the figure
below:
The direct forces in the X- and Y- directions, Fc.x and Fc.y, respectively, are divided between
the bolts according to the bolt stiffnesses. Because the bolts are all assumed to have the
same material and length, the stiffness is dependent only on area. The shear reactions on a
bolt due to the direct forces in X- and Y- are calculated as:

X-reaction on bolt due to direct force in X

Y-reaction on bolt due to direct force in Y

where A is the area of the bolt in question. If the bolt areas are the same, the equations
above simplify to Px.FX = Fc.x/n and Py.FY = Fc.y/n, where n is the number of bolts in the pattern.

The shear reaction on a bolt due to moment about the Z-axis is calculated as:

where Mc.z is the centroidal moment about the Z-axis and Ic.p is the pattern's polar moment
of inertia. The value rc.xy is the shortest distance between the bolt and the centroid and is
calculated as .

The shear reaction Pxy.MZ is then resolved into X- and Y- components based on the
angle θ (see the figure above):

Px.MZ = Pxy.MZ · sinθ X-reaction on bolt due to MZ about centroid

The value θ is the angle between the bolt location and the positive X-axis and is calculated
as θ = tan-1(rc.y/rc.x).

The total shear reaction on a bolt is calculated as the vector sum of the X- components plus
the Y- components: