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. 

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, 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.