4. Conclusion

In particular, we have shown that the fatigue life of a connection can be considerably increased by installing sufficient prestressing, and that this method can be competitive with the "classic" method of installing bolts with interference, which requires special bolts and complicates the installation procedure. However, it should be noted that, for multi-bolted links, the fact that tightening increases the apparent stiffness of the links concerned results in a higher transfer rate on the first few rows, which significantly reduces the gain in service life obtained on a link with one or two rows of elements.

It should also be noted that assembly with bolts fitted without play or with low interference remains, for assemblies of thin parts, the best method for avoiding loosening.