• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.129-136
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• 2018

The estimation of the fatigue design life for large welded structures is usually performed using the liner cumulative damage method such as Palmgren-Miner rule or the equivalent damage method. When a fatigue crack is detected in a welded steel structure, the residual service life has to be estimated base on S-N curve method and liner elastic fracture mechanics. In this study, to examine the 3D fatigue crack behavior and estimate the fatigue life of out-of-plane gusset fillet welded joint, the fatigue tests were carried out on the model specimens. Investigations of three-dimensional fatigue crack propagation on gusset welded joint was used the finite element analysis of FEMAP with NX NASTRAN and FRANC3D. Fatigue crack growth analysis was carried out to demonstrate the effects of aspect ratio, initial crack length and stress ratio on out-of-plane gusset welded joints. In addition, the crack behaviors of fatigue tests were compared with those of the 3D crack propagation analysis in terms of changes in crack length and aspect ratio. From this analysis result, SIFs behaviors and crack propagation rate of gusset welded joint were shown to be similar fatigue test results and the fatigue life can also be predicted.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.28 no.6D
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• pp.881-893
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• 2008

The major objective of this study is to investigate the fatigue damage factor evaluation of immovability crossing for railway turnout by the field test and qualitative analysis. From the field test results of the servicing turnout crossing and qualitative analysis with frictional wear which section stiffness decreased, it was evaluated fatigue life of servicing turnout crossing. Most design practices have not taken advantage of the advanced theories in the modern fracture mechanics and finite element analysis due to complexity of analysis as well as the large quantity of vaguely defined parameters in actual designs. This paper considers fatigue problems in turnout crossing using effective analytical and design tools from the field of qualitative constraint reasoning. A set of software modules was developed for fatigue analysis and evaluation, which is easily applicable in engineering practices of designers. The techniques enable the use complex analysis formulations to tackle practical problems with uncertainties, and present the design outcome in two-dimensional design space solution. Appropriate engineering assumptions and judgments in carrying out these procedures, often the most difficult part for practicing engineers, can be partially produced by using qualitative reasoning to define the trends and ranges, interval constraint analysis to derive the controlling parameters, as well as design space to account for practical experience.