Distinctive mechanical behavior of bolted joints is caused by the helical shape of thread geometry. Recently, a number of papers have been published to elucidate the strength or loosening phenomena of bolted joints using three-dimensional finite element analysis. In most cases, mesh generations of the bolted joints are implemented with the help of commercial software. The mesh patterns so obtained are, therefore, not necessarily adequate for analyzing the stress concentration and contact pressure distributions, which are the primary concerns when designing bolted joints. In this paper, an effective mesh generation scheme is proposed, which can provide helical thread models with accurate geometry to analyze specific characteristics of stress concentrations and contact pressure distributions caused by the helical thread geometry. Using the finite element (FE) models with accurate thread geometry, it is shown how the thread root stress and contact pressure vary along the helix and at the nut loaded surface in the circumferential direction and why the second peak appears in the distribution of Mises stress at thread root. The maximum stress occurs at the bolt thread root located half a pitch from nut loaded surface, and the axial load along engaged threads shows a different distribution pattern from those obtained by axisymmetric FE analysis and elastic theory. It is found that the second peak of Mises stress around the top face of nut is due to the distinctive distribution pattern of $σz$.

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