Evaluation the Effect of Pretension on the Fatigue Life of Double Lap Bolted Joint - A Review

The main objective of this paper is to improve the fatigue life of bolted joints. To investigate this an aircraft grade aluminium alloy with double lap joints are studied. To improve the fatigue life bolt pretension is done on the double lap joint. The effect of the bolt pretension is studied and analysed, both experimental and numerical methods are used to investigate the fatigue behaviour of bolted joint. Possible factors that affected the fatigue life of the bolted joints are discussed and conclusions are drawn with respect to the beneficial effects of tightening torques on the double lap joints.