Study on finite element modeling and parameter identification of bolted joints which are widely applied in engineering is conducted in this paper. By adopting the basic theory of the thin-layer element with isotropic constitutive relationship, a method based on parameter identification for recognizing the mechanical characteristics of contact surface in bolted structures is proposed. Finite element modeling for single and multiple bolted structures are investigated respectively, ignoring the hole and the mass of the bolt, and the contact surface is modeled by using of thin-layer element. An optimization problem is formulated using experimental modal data for identifying the constitutive parameters of thin-layer element. When the identify parameters are adopted in the finite element model, the maximum error of the computational modal frequencies compared with the experimental data is reduced reasonably. It is shown that thin layer element with the identified parameters can be used for accurately simulating the normal and tangential stiffness of the contact surface. The proposed approach in this paper is available for precisely simulating the single and multiple bolted structures.