An efficient design method for multi-material bolted joints used in the railway industry

A methodology to design and analyze multi-material bolted joints in hybrid train structures is presented. This methodology enables the prediction of the response of a multi-material bolted joint in a short amount of time and it is suitable to be used for large structures, where the number of bolts can be very high. The method developed is applied to a real industrial case which consists on the connection between the roof and the side of a carbody shell train structure. Experimental tests are performed on a full-size sub-component. The comparison between the experimental data and the numerical results confirms the accuracy of the method.

► A fast design tool is proposed to design and analyze railway bolted structures.
► The method is implemented in a fast and friendly to use computer code.
► A full-size prototype was manufactured and tested.
► Predicted results agree well with the experimental data.