Abstract

A compact model to determine the overall thermal resistance of bolted joints, which considers a variable number of washers between plates, is presented. Conduction models are developed for material and constriction resistances. The contact model is obtained from the literature. The temperature influence is studied using thermal stress analysis. Non-important resistances are eliminated from the resulting resistance network and algebraic simplifications are applied. The resulting compact model is compared to the literature models, correlations and data for the no washer case. The author's data, for the one and three washer between plate configurations, are also compared with the model. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.