Abstract: A method of designing an axial bolted flange joint includes the use of a common, controlled spreadsheet that includes part and assembly drawings, dimensions, equations, materials properties, and design limits and design criteria that generates alerts to the user during the design process. Drawings are updated by the spreadsheet as parameters are changed and are available as final drawings at any stage of the method. After the user achieves an acceptable preliminary design in the spreadsheet, the data from the spreadsheet and/or updated drawings are imported into a solids modeling program. A finite elements program imports data from the solids modeling program to perform a stress analysis. The data in the spreadsheet may be modified, if necessary, based upon the stress analysis results.