Bolted joint Simulation using MARC.

Hi Fahad, 

             Typical causes for error 3002 are, 1. Incorrect/incomplete boundary conditions (your case here), 2. Free rigid body movement (very likely with under-constrained models), or 3. Contact setup not initiating correctly.

When your symmetry BCs leave the model free to move in Y/Z due to unconstrained rigid body motion, Marc can’t solve the stiffness matrix, and the iteration diverges. When you restrained all DOFs, you prevented rigid body motion—but also overconstrained the system, artificially stiffening the model. So depending on if you are using shell elements or solid elements symmetry boundary condition should be chosen. For 3D solid models (most likely in your case), apply only: Ux = 0 at symmetry plane. Additional constrains will be needed based on BC. 

5 mm displacement causing 10 mm actual movement indicates that pretension + displacement were added together, doubling the load. You can try either of both. 

Hi Fahad Ali,

It sounds like you're having a tough time with your bolted joint simulation in Marc. Here are a few thoughts that might help:

First, double-check your symmetry boundary conditions—they might not be fully capturing the behavior you're expecting. Fully restraining all DOFs can lead to unrealistic results, which explains the mismatch with ABAQUS. Try adjusting the constraints to better reflect real-world conditions.

The 10 mm displacement is puzzling. Revisit how the bolt pretension and displacement loads are applied, and ensure your contact settings, like friction coefficients, are accurate.

Differences with ABAQUS might be due to how each solver handles things, so make sure all settings and material properties match as closely as possible.

Error code 3002 points to convergence issues.  It's tricky to pinpoint the exact issue without seeing the model, but hopefully, these tips guide you in the right direction.

Please feel free to reach out to us at support@mscsoftware.com

Regards,

Amol Kumbhar

Thank you, Dr. Shank, for your valuable suggestions.

Regarding the symmetry condition, I have applied Ux = 0, Rx = 0, and Rz = 0, which aligns with the approach used by my professor in ABAQUS. His results have also been satisfactory using this setup.

The 5 mm displacement is intended to be applied in the combined load case, immediately after completing the pretension stage. For the bolt tension of 205 kN, I have applied a 0.173 mm displacement in the Z-direction.

Additionally, as you can see, the curve for Marc at a friction coefficient of 0.5 shows fluctuations, despite the analysis not including any dynamic loading.

Regarding the contact settings, I have used the default, simplest configuration, as shown below. One more point I would like to mention is that, in the material properties, I have defined the stress (hardening) behavior after yielding, as illustrated in the figure. However, it appears that Marc does not account for the hardening rule in the analysis.

Thank you, Amol Kumbhar, for your valuable suggestion.

Most of the basic settings, such as BCs and contact definitions, are similar to those in ABAQUS. Below, you can find the contact definition along with the load case preferences. If you have time and are interested in reviewing the model, I would be happy to share it with you via email.