Inverse Identification of Virtual Material Parameters Using Surface Response Methodology

The virtual material model is now widely applied for modeling the dynamical performance of assembled structures since it can effectively represent the complicated contact behavior of joint interfaces despite being relatively simple to create. In this study, a virtual material model is adopted for modeling the dominant physics of a bolted joint subject to a set of pretightening conditions. The unknown virtual material parameters are acquired by an inverse identification procedure that uses the surface response methodology. The greatest advantage of this approach is the ease with which it acquires the joint parameters without taking apart a built-up structure to do special measurements on each separated component. Intricate theoretical calculations can also be avoided when this method is used. This study addresses the responses of virtual material parameters under different pretightening considerations. Predictions based on the identified virtual material parameters are compared with the corresponding results obtained using the analytical method. The correlation between the two sets of results at all preload levels is promising, which indicates the successful identification of the virtual material parameters.