Multiaxial fatigue behaviors of open-rib to crossbeam joints in orthotropic bridge structures

Haibo Yang, Hongliang Qian, Ping Wang, Pingsha Dong and Fillipo Berto

Abstract

The fatigue behavior of welded open rib-to crossbeam joints (ORCJ) in orthotropic bridge structures is investigated using a traction structural stress method. The fatigue behaviors of welded open rib-to crossbeam joints have been a subject of study for decades for ensuring operational safety and future design improvement. A mesh-insensitive combination of traction structural stresses in ORCJ was obtained considering the effect of in-plane shear stress and validated by fatigue test results. The proposed method is advantageous for predicting fatigue cracks that initiate from the crossbeam cutout and propagate along the crossbeam. The investigations carried out with the proposed approach reveal that the normal structural stress decreases with the propagation of fatigue cracks, while the ratio of shear stress to normal stress increases. The effect of shear structural stress is significant for the analysis of fatigue behavior of ORCJ in multiaxial stress states.

Key Words

orthotropic steel bridges with open ribs; multiaxial stress state; in-plane shear structural stress; a combination of traction structural stresses

Address

Haibo Yang: 1)College of Water Conservancy and Civil Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Shandong, China 2)School of Ocean Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai, Weihai, China, 264200 Hongliang Qian: School of Ocean Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai, Weihai, China, 264200 Ping Wang: School of Ocean Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology at Weihai, Weihai, China, 264200 Pingsha Dong: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor 48109, USA Fillipo Berto: Department of Engineering Design and Materials, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

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