Fatigue behaviour of toe and root stiffener cracks in stiffener-to-deck plate weld of orthotropic bridge decks

Fatigue cracks in the stiffener-to-deck plate connections of orthotropic bridge decks, initiating from the weld toe or root and propagating into the stiffener or weld throat, are experimentally and numerically studied. A statistical analysis of the structural stress is carried out using the experimental data. Automatic welded specimens show a...

Fatigue behaviour of root crack in stiffener-to-deck plate weld at crossbeam of orthotropic bridge decks

Steel Orthotropic Bridge Decks (OBDs) are widely used in long-span and movable bridges. Fatigue resistance analysis plays an important role in the design or assessment of OBDs. One possible fatigue failure is the crack initiating from the weld root of stiffener-to-deck plate connections at crossbeams. A full-scale experimental investigation...

Enhanced Fatigue Life of Old Metallic Bridges - Application of Preloaded Injection Bolts

There is a significant number of old metallic bridges with high levels of structural degradation due to their long service period. Fatigue problems are especially important in these structures since the majority of them were not designed taking into account this phenomenon. Several investigations showed that riveted joints are critical...

Fatigue experimental characterization of preloaded injection bolts in a metallic bridge strengthening scenario

All over the world, the number of civil engineering structures, particularly bridges with long service periods, has been increasing. The most common evidences of damages are the presence of corroded metallic elements and cracks in structural details due to the fatigue phenomenon. A large number of cases were found in which fatigue cracks were...

Reliability of Fatigue Strength Curves for Riveted Connections Using Normal and Weibull Distribution Functions

In North America and Europe, there is a significant number of centenary metallic bridges that require maintenance and strengthening operations. These structures need to be adapted to increasing traffic intensities, and their structural integrity should be constantly evaluated. Fatigue damages were not considered in the original design of old...

Fatigue resistance curves for single and double shear riveted joints from old portuguese metallic bridges

The maintenance and safety of ancient bridges is a major concern of governmental authorities. In particular, the safety of old riveted bridges fabricated and placed into service at the end of the 19th century deserves particular attention. These structures are susceptible to exhibit high fatigue damage levels due to their long operational...

Fatigue crack propagation simulation of orthotropic bridge deck based on extended finite element method

Orthotropic Steel Decks (OSDs) are widely used in various types of steel bridges due to its benefits of light weight, high load bearing capacity and speedy construction. However, fatigue remains as the predominant problem for OSDs. Many researchers have investigated fatigue issues of welded joints through experiments but is not a cost-effective...