Is there a better (simpler) way to do pinned joints?

[tgrimley]

This is an example of a type of connection I use a lot. Curious if there was a better / easier way of looking at the joints considering I'm not too interested in the stresses in the bolt itself.

I do a distributing coupling in the bolt hole to a reference point, and then a pinned rigid body between the reference points. I use contacts on the faces in contact. I've attached a png and a cae of what I am doing for an example of a plate with a bolt in double shear.

Is there a better way to approach this?

http://files.engineering.com/getfil...34a-4d6d-ada8-f006e5afed75&file=connector.png

http://files.engineering.com/getfil...4f8f-a040-fb5c023a8c55&file=connectorTest.cae