Reaction force on bolt (SPRINGA element)

In CalculiX, beams are not really the best choice for bolt modeling, but you can find an example here: Beam Element connections between Two plates (2D) and here: Why the top plate displacement is zero? and in many other threads on this forum such as: Simplified bolt connection with beam element and rigid constraints

In short words, you need at the very least (to avoid having to define second-order elements for circular profile):

*ELEMENT, TYPE=B31
element_number, node_1, node_2
...
*BEAM SECTION, MATERIAL=..., ELSET=..., SECTION=RECT
width, height
x, y, z

or with second-order elements:

*ELEMENT, TYPE=B32
element_number, node_1, node_2
...
*BEAM SECTION, MATERIAL=..., ELSET=..., SECTION=CIRC
diameter
2 Likes