In this paper

a shear-deformation nonlinear relationship of single bolted connection subject to shear forces is determined by curve-fitting to experimental data and this nonlinear relationship is directly applied to force-deformation calculation of bolt-group connections subject to shear and bending forces. Elastic-plastic analysis of bolt-group connections subject to shear and bending forces is performed on the basis of ultimate design concept.The analytical results are checked against the experimental results and a satisfactory agreement is obtained.