Experimental and Analytical Study of the Hysteretic Behaviour of Bolted Joints

This paper presents the experimental results of a single joint rig subjected to torsional excitation and the analytical models for representing the experimental results. A bolted joint connecting two beams is shaken at the resonant frequency and the time-domain data and the resultant hysteresis loops of the torque versus the relative angular displacement of the joint are obtained. Damping behaviour evolving from linear viscous type to nonlinear friction type is clearly seen. Both the Jenkins element model and the Bouc-Wen model are used to fit with the hysteresis loops of the experimental results. The capability of the two models in representing experimental hysteresis loops is discussed.