BOJCAS: Bolted joints in composite aircraft structures

The objective of BOJCAS was to develop advanced design methods for bolted joints in composite aircraft structures. This is a critical technology supporting the introduction of composites into the primary structure of large commercial aircraft. Design methods in existence before BOJCAS dated from the 70s/80s, were largely empirical, and tended to be overly reliant on testing. The methods developed in BOJCAS incorporate recent developments in computational mechanics and are more adaptable to new materials, and configurations. This gives them the potential to significantly reduce testing, and hence time/cost of development, as well as aircraft weight with consequent increase in efficiency. This should also help to ensure continued safety