Repairing Distortion-Induced Fatigue Cracks in Steel Bridge Girders Using Angles-with-Plate Retrofit Technique. II: Computer Simulations
This article is a reply.
VIEW THE ORIGINAL ARTICLEPublication: Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 140, Issue 5
Abstract
This paper presents the results from computer simulations of 914 mm (36 in.) deep girder-cross frame subassemblies to study the effects of distortion-induced fatigue and to evaluate the effectiveness of a newly proposed cost-effective retrofit measure. The proposed retrofit measure consists of adding steel angles connecting the girder web and the transverse connection plate (CP), and a steel plate on the back side of the girder web. The retrofit measure is intended to reduce stress demand at the welds, to restrain the web-gap region from deforming in the out-of-plane direction, and to distribute lateral forces transferred by cross-frames over a wider region of the web. Parametric studies were carried out to determine the optimal configuration to prevent growth of fatigue cracks of various lengths in the web-gap region. It was found that the proposed retrofit measure reduced peak stress demands with respect to the unretrofitted configuration by 50% or more, making it likely that it will prevent fatigue crack reinitiation. The parametric studies showed that the proposed retrofit measure became more effective in reducing the peak stress demand as the stiffness of the elements increased, with the lowest average stress demand occurring when the angles and backing plate were assigned thicknesses equal to 2.67 times the thickness of the web. Experimental verification of this study is presented in a companion paper.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for support from the Kansas Department of Transportation (KDOT) and the University of Kansas Transportation Research Institute (KU TRI). The authors would also like to acknowledge support provided through Pooled Fund Study TPF-5(189), which includes the following participating state DOTs: Kansas, California, Iowa, Illinois, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, as well as the Federal Highway Administration.
References
ABAQUS 6.8-2 [Computer software]. (2009). Providence, RI, Simulia.
Adams, C. (2009). “Finite element study of bridge details susceptible to distortion-induced fatigue.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Alemdar, F., Matamoros, A., Bennett, C., Barrett-Gonzalez, R., and Rolfe, S. (2012). “Use of CFRP overlays to strengthen welded connections under fatigue loading.” J. Bridge Eng., 420–431.
Alemdar, F., Nagati, D., Matamoros, A., Bennett, C., and Rolfe, S. (2014). “Repairing distortion-induced fatigue cracks in steel bridge girders using angles-with-plate retrofit technique. I: Physical simulations.” J. Bridge Eng., xxx.
Castiglioni, C., Fisher, J., and Yen, B. (1988). “Evaluation of fatigue cracking at cross diaphragms of a multigirder steel bridge.” J. Constr. Steel Res., 9(2), 95–110.
Cousins, T., and Stallings, T. (1998). “Laboratory tests of bolted diaphragm-girder connections.” J. Bridge Eng., 56–63.
Fisher, J., Jin, J., Wagner, D., and Yen, B. (1990). “Distortion-induced fatigue cracking in steel bridges.”, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC.
Hassel, H., Bennett, C., Matamoros, A., and Rolfe, S. (2013). “Parametric analysis of cross-frame layout on distortion-induced fatigue in skewed steel bridges.” J. Bridge Eng., 601–611.
Jajich, D., and Schultz, A. (2003). “Measurement and analysis of distortion-induced fatigue in multigirder steel bridges.” J. Bridge Eng., 84–91.
Keating, P., and Fisher, J. (1987). “Fatigue behavior of variable loaded bridge details near the fatigue limit.”, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, 56–64.
Maddox, S. J. (2002). “Hot-spot stress design curves for fatigue assessment of welded structures.” Int. J. Offshore Polar Eng., 12(2), 134–141.
Richardson, T. (2012). “Analytical investigation of repair methods for fatigue cracks in steel bridges.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Roddis, W. M., and Zhao, Y. (2001). “Out-of-plane fatigue cracking in welded steel bridges.” Welding Innovations, 27(2), 2–7.
Rolfe, S. T., and Barsom, J. M. (1977). Fracture and fatigue control in structures: Applications of fracture mechanics, 1st Ed., Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Structural Engineering
Volume 140 • Issue 5 • May 2014
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 31, 2012
Accepted: May 10, 2013
Published online: May 15, 2013
Published in print: May 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Jun 7, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.