Designing bolted joints reliably with FEA

MagicBOLT: analysis software for bolt verification to VDI 2230

Bolts can be represented in a finite element analysis in various ways — simplified as beams, for example, or in detail as a modelled bolt. When evaluating the results for an assembly, a statement about the durability of the bolts is required alongside the structural stresses. VDI 2230 is usually applied for this.

With MagicBOLT, our own web-based tool, this is now straightforward and economical. MagicBOLT was developed by engineers for engineers, with a focus on practical, efficient verification.

As a user of our tool you benefit from:

  • analytical preliminary sizing of bolts
  • assessment of single and multi-bolt joints from FEA results
  • solver independence through the use of result files in ASCII format
  • web-based with username and password — no local installation needed
  • clear presentation of results for the most highly loaded bolt, with detailed evaluation of every individual bolt available
  • verification both under the bolt head and in the thread region
  • immediate investigation of the effect of changes to the bolt parameters
  • ready-made documentation of the results for inclusion in your report
  • output of the formulae together with the individual bolt values
  • user management with individual settings for the verification
  • project management with the option to share with your colleagues

You can find MagicBOLT on the web at https://magicbolt.di-gmbh.com/

Some of the advantages are explained in detail below:

MagicBOLT is deliberately not solver-specific or integrated. The reason is obvious — as a user you remain independent of software releases and tools.

The modelling effort required is minimal and works without difficulty with your existing geometry.

We provide the necessary macros for the following software tools:

  • Ansys
  • Abaqus
  • Optistruct (in progress)
  • Solidworks Simulation (in progress)

If you use software that is not listed, we are happy to check whether it can also write the required ASCII files.

The optimised presentation of results provides a quick overview. For each bolt group, the most highly loaded bolt is reported. This gives a fast, concise statement about all the bolts in your analysis model.

On request, every verification can be displayed and analysed for each bolt individually. This allows all the bolts in a bolt group to be assessed.

For efficient evaluation, bolts are combined into bolt groups. All definitions — such as

  • bolt size
  • bolt length
  • property class
  • friction coefficients
  • load cases to be evaluated
    are set in the group definition.

If an analysis does not yield an adequate safety factor, an estimate of the required bolt size and property class can be made quickly.
When re-running the analysis, the group definitions are retained if desired; only the new results are imported.

The formulae of VDI 2230 have been implemented transparently — every calculated result is output together with the formula behind it.

This means fully verifiable documentation can be produced at the push of a button. You do not receive results from a black box that are difficult or impossible to follow mathematically.

Have we caught your interest?

Further information and example videos showing the use of MagicBOLT in Ansys Spaceclaim, Ansys Workbench, Abaqus CAE and the MagicBOLT Online bolt assessment can be found on our website and in our flyer.

Get in touch and we will get back to you promptly.