Does the bolt fired from a crossbow bend in the same fashion as an arrow shot from a bow or a dart thrown from an atlatl. They are shorter and seem to be much more stiff than the arrow or dart.

I'm not sure, some crossbow bolts where meatal though

Dork. I'd be inclined to agree with those who say the bolt bends at least a small amount.  A 15th or 16th century cross bow, the kind that required a cranquin (winch) to draw the string back could store a ton or more of force in the 6 or so inches it gets drawn. I find in difficult to believe that, apart from compression, there wasn't at least a bit of flexing on release. Note I said flexing. Any significant degree of bend or curve under those forces and  I think the quarrel would shatter.
However if you mean the back and forth wiggle that an arrow under goes, especially if loosed from a non - centreshot bow. Curving around the hand grip, Archer's paradox etc. Then definitely not, the bolt would shatter under forces involved.
Of course if the thrust is STRAIGHT up the shaft axis then any flex would be so close to zero as to be utterly insignificant.  On further thought I don't know, could go either way.  Mind you the Quarrel might get FATTER briefly. hmm, Does that mean it's got to stop bolting it's energy and fly to work off the extra size. The flying Dieter??Typhon.

The force on a crossbow bolt is not 100% aligned with its axis. The bolt runs in a trough and the point is below the level of the bowstring. This means that the point of the bolt is kept down by its inertia and doesnt do a backflip into the air.

The flexing of the bolt is minimal and does not affect its flight. If you look at various manufacturers you will see that when buying crossbow bolts you dont need to specify a value for spine or the draw weight of your crossbow.

Interesting stuff. This site quotes 19" for the bolt length. Looking at the bow, draw length and probable power, I reckon theres no flexing here.

http://therionarms.com/sold/ttoy331.html

It should also be noted that any flexing is going to be up and down, and will alter the point of impact up or down. This effect is likely to be swamped by the effects of range, elevation, variations in bolt weight and drag, all of which change the point of impact up or down as well.

The 'archers paradox' is visible for a bow and arrow because it changes the point of impact left or right.

Quote:


Yes, the 'archers paradox' effect is less pronounced when the arrow runs through the centre of the bow, as in modern recurve and compounds.

Bikewer.
There are also Crossbows from Africa that shoot short, a foot or so, very slim and light spikes from cane or similar. These would flex quite a bit I’d think. Don’t know of course.
I was thinking more of the historical European crossbows. Not bows from Africa or Asia or modern devices.
Typhon