Abstract:Based on the uniaxial tension experiments on 3 bolted ball-cylinder (BBC) joints, the finite element (FE) models of the tension specimens were established by using ABAQUS and were proved by comparing with experimental results. Then 87 FE models were established to analyze the influence parameters of the uniaxial tension bearing capacity of the joint. Meanwhile, the ultimate bearing capacity of the joint under uniaxial tension was defined. The FE results indicate that with the drop of the diameter of the cylinder and the length of the chord member, and the increase of the thickness of the cylinder wall, the height of the cylinder, the spacing and the size of the bolts, the bearing capacity of the joint increases. The joints with rib stiffeners produce a better stiffness and bearing capacity than ordinary ones. The insufficiency of the screw-in length of high strength bolts will cause the evulsion of bolts. Therefore, it is suggested that the screw-in length of bolts should be larger than the bolt diameter. Based on theoretical analysis, practical calculation formulae for the bearing capacity of BBC joints under uniaxial tension were proposed. The relative errors between the fitting formulae calculations and the numerical and experimental results are less than 10%.