Steel and Composite Structures

Techno-Press (테크노프레스)
권호 표지
DOI QR코드

DOI QR Code

Probabilistic fatigue assessment of rib-to-deck joints using thickened edge U-ribs

  • Heng, Junlin (Department of Bridge Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Sou thwest Jiaotong University) ;
  • Zheng, Kaifeng (Department of Bridge Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Sou thwest Jiaotong University) ;
  • Kaewunruen, Sakdirat (Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham) ;
  • Zhu, Jin (Department of Bridge Engineering, School of Civil Engineering, Sou thwest Jiaotong University) ;
  • Baniotopoulos, Charalampos (Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, University of Birmingham)
  • Received : 2018.12.12
  • Accepted : 2019.10.15
  • Published : 2020.06.25
⟨ Previous Next ⟩

Abstract

Fatigue cracks of rib-to-deck (RD) joints have been frequently observed in the orthotropic steel decks (OSD) using conventional U-ribs (CU). Thickened edge U-rib (TEU) is proposed to enhance the fatigue strength of RD joints, and its effectiveness has been proved through fatigue tests. In-depth full-scale tests are further carried out to investigate both the fatigue strength and fractography of RD joints. Based on the test result, the mean fatigue strength of TEU specimens is 21% and 17% higher than that of CU specimens in terms of nominal and hot spot stress, respectively. Meanwhile, the development of fatigue cracks has been measured using the strain gauges installed along the welded joint. It is found that such the crack remains almost in semi-elliptical shape during the initiation and propagation. For the further application of TEUs, the design curve under the specific survival rate is required for the RD joints using TEUs. Since the fatigue strength of welded joints is highly scattered, the design curves derived by using the limited test data only are not reliable enough to be used as the reference. On this ground, an experiment-numerical hybrid approach is employed. Basing on the fatigue test, a probabilistic assessment model has been established to predict the fatigue strength of RD joints. In the model, the randomness in material properties, initial flaws and local geometries has been taken into consideration. The multiple-site initiation and coalescence of fatigue cracks are also considered to improve the accuracy. Validation of the model has been rigorously conducted using the test data. By extending the validated model, large-scale databases of fatigue life could be generated in a short period. Through the regression analysis on the generated database, design curves of the RD joint have been derived under the 95% survival rate. As the result, FAT 85 and FAT 110 curves with the power index m of 2.89 are recommended in the fatigue evaluation on the RD joint using TEUs in terms of nominal stress and hot spot stress respectively. Meanwhile, FAT 70 and FAT 90 curves with m of 2.92 are suggested in the evaluation on the RD joint using CUs in terms of nominal stress and hot spot stress, respectively.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

The study is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant number: 51778536, Doctoral Innovation Fund Program of Southwest Jiaotong University (grant number: D-CX201701), the Zhejiang Department of Transportation (grant number: 10115066), China Scholarship Council and British Council through the Newton Fund. The first author would like to express his sincere thanks to Prof. Yongming Liu at Arizona State University, for his kind help on the probabilistic fatigue assessment model.

References

  1. Anderson, T.L. (2005), Fracture Mechanics: Fundamentals and Applications, (Third Edition), CRC Press, Baca Raton, FL, USA.
  2. ANSYS (2018a), Engineering Simulation and 3D Design Software; ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA. http://www.ansys.com/
  3. ANSYS (2018b), Mechanical APDL Documentation, ANSYS Inc., Canonsburg, PA, USA.
  4. Austen, I. (1983), "Measurement of fatigue crack threshold value for use in design", BSC Report SH/EN/9708/2/83/B; British Steel Corporation, London, UK.
  5. Baptista, C., Reis, A. and Nussbaumer, A. (2017), "Probabilistic S-N curves for constant and variable amplitude", Int. J. Fatigue, 101, 312-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2017.01.022
  6. Baik, B., Yamada, K. and Ishikawa, T. (2011), "Fatigue crack propagation analysis for welded joint subjected to bending", Int. J. Fatigue, 33(5), 746-758. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2010.12.002.
  7. Bowness, D. and Lee, M.M.K. (2000), "Prediction of weld toe magnification factors for semi-elliptical cracks in T-butt joints", Int. J. Fatigue, 22(5), 369-387. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0142-1123(00)00012-8.
  8. BS 7910 (2015), Guide to methods for assessing the acceptability of flaws in metallic structures, British Standards Institution; BSI Standards Limited, London, UK.
  9. Cao, V.D., Sasaki, E., Tajima, K. and Suzuki, T. (2015), "Investigations on the effect of weld penetration on fatigue strength of rib-to-deck welded joints in orthotropic steel decks", Int. J. Steel Struct., 15(2), 299-310. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13296-014-1103-4.
  10. Connor, R., Fisher, J., Gatti, W., Gopalaratnam, V., Kozy, B., Leshko, B., McQuaid, D.L., Medlock, R., Mertz, D., Murphy, T., Paterson, D., Sorensen, O. and Yadlosky, J. (2012), "Manual for design, construction, and maintenance of orthotropic steel deck bridges", FHWA Report FHWA-IF-12-027; HDR Engineering Inc., Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
  11. Devore, J. (2011), Probability and Statistics for Engineering and the Sciences, (Ninth Edition), Cengage learning, Boston, MA, USA.
  12. Eurocode (2005), Design of steel structures, Part 1-9: Fatigue, European Committee for Standardization; Brussels, Belgium.
  13. GB/T 714 (2015), Structural steel for bridge, Standardization Administration of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, China.
  14. Han, Q.H., Wang, Y.H., Xu, J. and Xing, Y. (2016), "Fatigue behavior of stud shear connectors in steel and recycled tyre rubber-filled concrete composite beams", Steel Compos. Struct., 22(2), 353-368. https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2016.22.2.353.
  15. Heng, J., Zheng, K., Gou, C., Zhang, Y. and Bao, Y. (2017), "Fatigue performance of rib-to-deck joints in orthotropic steel decks with thickened edge U-ribs", J. Bridge Eng., 22(9), 04017059. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0001095.
  16. Heng, J., Zheng, K., Zhang, Y. and Wang, Y. (2018), "Enhancing fatigue performance of rib-to-deck joints in orthotropic steel decks using thickened edge u-ribs", Proceedings of Structures Congress 2018, Fort Worth, TX, USA, April. https://doi.org/10.1061/9780784481332.032.
  17. Hobbacher, A. (2015), Recommendations for Fatigue Design of Welded Joints and Components, Springer, Basel, Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-23757-2
  18. JGJ 82-2011 (2011), Technical specification for high strength bolt connections of steel structures, Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development of the People's Republic of China, Beijing, China.
  19. Ju, X. and Zeng, Z. (2014), "Study on uplift performance of stud connector in steel-concrete composite structures", Steel Compos. Struct., 18(5), 1279-1290. https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2015.18.5.1279.
  20. Kainuma, S., Yang, M., Jeong, Y.S., Inokuchi, S., Kawabata, A. and Uchida, D. (2016), "Experiment on fatigue behavior of rib-to-deck weld root in orthotropic steel decks", J. Constr. Steel Res., 119, 113-122. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2015.11.014.
  21. Kamaya, M. (2008), "Growth evaluation of multiple interacting surface cracks. Part I: Experiments and simulation of coalesced crack", Eng. Fract. Mech., 75(6), 1336-1349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2007.07.015.
  22. Kountouris, I.S. and Baker, M.J. (1989), "Defect assessment: analysis of the dimensions of defects detected by ultrasonic inspection in an offshore structure", CESLIC Report OR8; Imperial College of Science and Technology, London, UK.
  23. Liu, Y. and Mahadevan, S. (2009), "Probabilistic fatigue life prediction using an equivalent initial flaw size distribution", Int. J. Fatigue, 31(3), 476-487. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2008.06.005.
  24. Luo, P., Zhang, Q., Gong, D., Bu, Y. and Ye, Z. (2018), "Study of fatigue performance of u rib-to-deck double-side welded joint in orthotropic steel bridge deck", Bridge Constr., 2018(2), 19-24. [In Chinese]
  25. Madia, M., Zerbst, U., Beier, H.T. and Schork, B. (2018), "The IBESS model-Elements, realisation and validation", Eng. Fract. Mech., 198, 171-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2017.08.033.
  26. Maljaars, J. and Vrouwenvelder, A.C.W.M. (2014), "Probabilistic fatigue life updating accounting for inspections of multiple critical locations", Int. J. Fatigue, 68, 24-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2014.06.011
  27. MATLAB (2018), Programming language; MathWorks, Natick, MA, USA. https://www.mathworks.com/
  28. Meng, W., Valipour, M. and Khayat, K.H. (2016), "Optimization and performance of cost-effective ultra-high performance concrete", Mater. Struct., 50(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-016-0896-3.
  29. Mukherjee, S. and Roy, S. (2015), "Fatigue evaluation of a steel orthotropic deck for a lift bridge by laboratory testing of a full scale prototype", Proceedings of Structures Congress 2015, Portland, USA, April.
  30. Nagy, W., Van Bogaert, P. and De Backer, H. (2015), "LEFM based fatigue design for welded connections in orthotropic steel bridge decks", Fatigue Design 2015, Senlis, France, November.
  31. Niemi, E., Fricke, W. and Maddox, S.J. (2006), Structural Hot-Spot Stress Approach to Fatigue Analysis of Welded Components, Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, UK.
  32. Pang, J.H., Hoh, H.J., Tsang, K.S., Low, J., Kong, S.C. and Yuan, W.G. (2017), "Fatigue crack propagation analysis for multiple weld toe cracks in cut-out fatigue test specimens from a girth welded pipe", Int. J. Fatigue, 94, 158-165. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijfatigue.2016.09.011.
  33. Righiniotis, T.D. and Chryssanthopoulos, M.K. (2003), "Probabilistic fatigue analysis under constant amplitude loading", J. Constr. Steel Res., 59(7), 867-886. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0143-974X(03)00002-6.
  34. Sanches, R.F., de Jesus, A.M., Correia, J.A., Da Silva, A.L.L. and Fernandes, A.A. (2015), "A probabilistic fatigue approach for riveted joints using Monte Carlo simulation", J. Constr. Steel Res., 110, 149-162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcsr.2015.02.019.
  35. Shen, C. (1994), "The statistical analysis of fatigue data", Ph.D. Dissertation; The University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA.
  36. Tang, M.C. (2011), "A new concept of orthotropic steel bridge deck", Struct. Infrastruct. E., 7(7-8), 587-595. https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2010.496996.
  37. Walbridge, S. (2005), "A probabilistic study of fatigue in post-weld treated tubular bridge structures", Ph.D. Dissertation; EPFL, Lausanne, Switzerland.
  38. Wang, B., Lu, P. and Shao, Y. (2015), "Research on rib-to-diaphragm welded connection by means of hot spot stress approach", Steel Compos. Struct., 18(1), 135-148. https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2015.18.1.135.
  39. Wang, B., Huang, Q. and Liu, X. (2017), "Deterioration in strength of studs based on two-parameter fatigue failure criterion", Steel Compos. Struct., 23(2), 239-250. https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2017.23.2.239.
  40. Xu, C., Su, Q. and Masuya, H. (2017), "Static and fatigue performance of stud shear connector in steel fiber reinforced concrete", Steel Compos. Struct., 24(4), 467-479. https://doi.org/10.12989/scs.2017.24.4.467.
  41. Zhang, Q., Liu, Y., Bao, Y., Jia, D., Bu, Y. and Li, Q. (2017), "Fatigue performance of orthotropic steel-concrete composite deck with large-size longitudinal U-shaped ribs", Eng. Struct., 150, 864-874. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.07.094.