Strengthening effects evaluation on fatigue damage of rib to deck joint in orthotropic steel deck

Strengthening fatigue damage of orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) needs to comprehensively consider the strengthening effect and the dead weight introduced during the strengthening process, especially for OSDs in super large-span bridges or old renovated bridges, where the dead weight cannot be significantly increased during repair and...

Mixed-mode fatigue crack propagation simulation by means of G_eq and walker models of the structural steel S355

In this paper, a numerical simulation method of mixed-mode fatigue crack propagation was explored using the extended finite element method (XFEM) and the Virtual Crack Closure Technique (VCCT). Both 2D and 3D numerical models were selected to simulate the fatigue crack propagation of steel specimens. Two coefficients were proposed to...

Mesh size effects on fracture locus of high strength bolts: A mesoscale critical equivalent plastic strain (MCEPS) approach

With the improvement of computational capability, finite element simulation is an increasingly practical method to accurately predict the ultimate capacity and ductile fracture behavior of high-strength bolts. However, the mesh size affects the results of FE simulations but related research on mesh size effects is relatively limited. In the...

Fatigue reliability of wind turbines: historical perspectives, recent developments and future prospects

Wind, as a sustainable and affordable energy source, represents a strong alternative to traditional energy sources. However, wind power is only one of the options, together with other renewable energy sources. Consequently, the core concerns for wind turbine manufacturers and operators are to increase its reliability and decrease costs,...

Numerical analysis and discussion on the hot-spot stress concept applied to welded tubular KT joints

Nominal stresses have been used for a long time for the assessment of fatigue resistance of welded joints, however, this approach has strong limitations since the definition of the nominal stress may be subjective for complex welded details and/or complex loading. On the other hand, the hot-spot stress approach has been proposed to overcome...

Fracture parameters calibration and validation for the high strength steel based on the mesoscale failure index

Accurately obtaining the material parameters of the damage model is very important for the ductile fracture simulation of steel structures made of high strength steel (HSS). The combination of micromechanics with the uncoupled phenomenological fracture model can be used to obtain the material parameters of ductile fracture locus only from the...

Residual stress effects on fatigue life prediction using hardness measurements for butt-welded joints made of high strength steels

The fatigue resistance of welded connections made of high strength steel (HSS) is one of the most important topics for the application of HSS in the construction sector. One of the most challenging issues is how to predict the fatigue life of welded structures with complex geometry based on the test results from relatively simple coupon...

Probabilistic strain-fatigue life performance based on stochastic analysis of structural and WAAM-stainless steels

Wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM) has increasingly attracted attention in the construction sector because of its ability to produce large metallic structural parts in short times. In this paper, Coffin-Manson and Morrow (CMM) equation is employed to compare the fatigue life of WAAM stainless steel with the structural steels S355 and S690...

Ductile fracture locus identification using mesoscale critical equivalent plastic strain

The ductile performance of high strength steel (HSS) from different steel grades, producers, manufacturing processes varies a lot. It is also difficult to conduct all kinds of reliable experiments to generate different stress status through different initial specimen geometries or by applying different load combinations in the civil...