After four years of normal trafficking, cracking occurred in welded connections on an experimental orthotropic bridge deck panel. These connections were fillet welds between the trapezoidal stiffeners and the cross-beam, the stiffeners being fitted between cross-beams. Initial investigations showed that the cracking was due to fatigue of the weld metal accelerated by factors attributed to the poor standard of fabrication of the deck panel. Further investigation was required to establish the performance under traffic loading because this stiffener design is typical of that used in bridge deck construction. Laboratory fatigue tests were carried out on specimens containing a single stiffener and on a full size deck panel. These were made to good commercial standards and careful attention was paid to the measure-measurement of fit-up between the parts of the test specimens and to the residual strains caused by welding. The tests confirmed that the design of this type of stiffener to cross-beam connection must be assessed for fatigue under traffic loading.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library


    Export, share and cite



    Title :

    An Investigation into the Fatigue of Welds in an Experimental Orthotropic Bridge Deck Panel


    Contributors:
    D. E. Nunn (author)

    Publication date :

    1974


    Size :

    48 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English





    Orthotropic Deck Fatigue Investigation at Triborough Bridge, New York

    Abdou, Samia / Zhang, Wuzhen / Fisher, John W. | Transportation Research Record | 2003




    Orthotropic steel bridge deck fatigue crack detection equipment and use method thereof

    GOU HONGYE / HAN BING / WANG JUNMING et al. | European Patent Office | 2021

    Free access