bolted connectors through whole comopsite laminate

Yu JH

I'm trying to make bolted connectors using rbe3 and cbar element joining psolid and pcompp. The problem is pcompp elements with stacked view I can't choose the other side which is not on the surface is not an actual element so i can't make a rbe 3 on them. And this is causing the bolt(cbar) is not going through the whole laminate. My question here is cbar element doesn't pass through the whole laminate but it assumed pass through it? or I need to make it actually pass through it?

Adriano_Koga

for a shell model, you will have your bolt joining the shell nodes, so its length will be limited.

Maybe you need to model your composite as a solid piece to get a better representation.

Or maybe you could create the bolt head or the nut on the other side and make a tie connection between the nut and your shell mesh. Just guessing.