Optimized bolted joint

Abstract

A method is disclosed for joining segments of the skin of an aircraft. The ends of the skin are positioned in close proximity or abutt each other. The skin is of constant thickness throughout the joint and is sandwiched between splice plates, which taper in thickness from the last to the first bolt rows in order to reduce the stiffness of the splice plate and thereby reduce the load transfer at the location where bypass loads are the highest.