The loading capacity in the axial direction of a bolted thin steel plate was investigated.A refined numerical model of bolt was first constructed and then validated using existing experiment results.Parametrical analysis was performed to reveal the influences of geometric parameters,including the effective depth of the cap nut,the yield strength of the steel plate,the preload of the bolt,and shear force,on the ultimate loading capacity.Then,an analytical method was proposed to predict the ultimate load of the bolted thin steel plate.Results derived using the numerical and analytical methods were compared and the results indicated that the analytical method can accurately predict the pull-through capacity of bolted thin steel plates.The work reported in this paper can provide a simplified calculation method for the loading capacity in the axial direction of a bolt.