• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.204-204
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• 2000

There are many weld defects such as surface crack, lack of fusion, and incomplete penetration(IP) in the butt joint weld of the existing steel bridges. The crack-like defects may significantly reduce the life of the structure. This paper presents the procedure and the results of the fatigue life assessment of the butt joints with weld defects in the existing steel girder bridge. The butt joint welds with incomplete penetration were instrumented with strain gages to determine the stress histogram under normal traffic. Based on the measured stress histogram the crack propagation analysis were performed for the fatigue life assessment. By using the suggested procedure and methodology, one can decide the time of periodic inspection and the necessity of repair of the butt joint welds with serious weld defects in the existing steel bridge. (Received October 1, 1999)

• Journal of Welding and Joining
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.77-85
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• 2000

There are many weld defects such as surface crack, lack of fusion, and incomplete penetration (IP) in the butt joint weld of existing steel bridges. The crack-like defects may significantly reduce the fatigue life of the structure. This paper presents the procedure and the results of the fatigue life assessment of the butt joints with weld defects in the existing steel girder bridge. The butt joint welds with incomplete penetration were instrumented with strain gages to determine the stress histogram under normal traffic. Based on the measured stress histogram the crack propagation analysis were performed for the fatigue life assessment. By using the suggested procedure and methodology, one can decide the time of periodic inspection and the necessity of repair of the butt joint welds with serious weld defects in the existing steel bridge.

• Journal of Ship and Ocean Technology
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.26-33
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• 2007

For the assessment of the retardation of fatigue crack propagation behavior due to overload, new FE analysis algorithms considering compressive residual stress redistribution near crack tip was proposed in this paper. The size of plastic zone near crack tip was obtained by elasto-plastic analysis and it was compared with Irwin's equation. The amount of residual stress redistribution was assessed by subsequent elasto-plastic analysis, and the difference of residual stress distributions between constant amplitude load and overload was obtained. In the analysis of fatigue crack propagation, the applied SIF range was evaluated by ASTM E647, and the effect of residual stresses on crack propagation was considered using the effective SIF concept. The test results of crack propagations were compared with the predicted data obtained by the analysis.

• Journal of Institute of Control, Robotics and Systems
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.66-72
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• 2004

To assess tunnel safety, cracks in tunnel lining are measured by inspectors, who observe cracks with their naked eyes and record them. But manual inspection is slow, and measured crack data is subjective. Therefore, this study proposes inspection system fur measuring cracks in tunnel lining and providing objective crack data to be used in safety assessment. The system consists of On-vehicle system and Laboratory system. On-Vehicle system acquires image data with line CCD camera on scanning along the tunnel lining. Laboratory system extracts crack information from the acquired image using image processing. Measured crack information is crack thickness, length and orientation. To improve accuracy of crack recognition, the geometric properties and patterns of cracks in concrete structure were applied to image processing. The proposed system was verified with experiments in both laboratory environment and field environment such as subway tunnel.

• Proceedings of the Computational Structural Engineering Institute Conference
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• 2007.04a
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• pp.27-32
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• 2007

Determination of crack depth in filed using the self-calibrating surface wave transmission measurement and the cutting frequency in the transmission function (TRF) is very difficult due to variations of the measurement conditions. In this study, it is proposed to use the measured full TRF as a feature for crack depth assessment. A principal component analysis (PCA) is employed to generate a basis of the measured TRFs for various crack cases. The measured TRFs are represented by their projections onto the most significant principal components. Then artificial neural networks (NNs) using the PCA-compressed TRFs is applied to assess the crack in concrete. Experimental study is carried out for five different crack cases to investigate the effectiveness of the proposed method. Results reveal that the proposed method can be effectively used for the crack depth assessment of concrete structures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.33 no.6
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• pp.765-779
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• 2009

Quantitative condition assessment of structures has been traditionally using proof load test leading to an indication of the load-carrying capacity. Alternative approaches using ultrasonic, dynamics etc. are based on the unloaded state of the structure and anomalies may not be fully mobilized in the load resisting path and thus their effects are not fully included in the measured responses. This paper studies the effect of the load carried by a reinforced concrete beam on the assessment result of the crack damage. This assessment can only be performed with an approach based on static measurement. The crack damage is modelled as a crack zone over an area of high tensile stress of the member, and it is represented by a damage function for the simulation study. An existing nonlinear optimization algorithm is adopted. The identified damage extent from a selected high level load and a low load level are compared, and it is concluded that accurate assessment can only be obtained at a load level close to the one that creates the damage.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.465-481
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• 2022

This paper presents a comprehensive integrity assessment of welded structural components, including uniform high- and low-cycle fatigue assessment of welded plate joints and fatigue-induced fracture assessment of welded plate joints. This study reports a series of fatigue and fracture tests of welded plate joints under three-point bending. To unify the assessment protocol for high- and low-cycle fatigue of welded plate joints, this study develops a numerical damage assessment framework for both high- and low-cycle fatigue. The calibrated damage material parameters are validated through the smooth coupon specimens. The proposed damage-based fatigue assessment approach describes, with reasonable accuracy, the total fatigue life of welded plate joints under high- and low-cycle fatigue actions. Subsequently, the study performs a tearing assessment on the ductile crack extension of the fatigue-induced crack. The tearing assessment diagram derives from the load-deformation curve of a single-edge notched bend, SE(B) specimen and successfully predicts the load-crack extension relation for the reported welded plate joints during the stable tearing process.

• Korean Journal of Metals and Materials
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• v.48 no.9
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• pp.791-797
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• 2010

The creep crack growth rate (da/dt) of the Cr-Mo steels tested by pre-crack and the voltage (or resistance) variables were related into fracture parameter (Ct), crack growth coefficient (H), and an exponent (q) in the parts of Base, weld and HAZ. The fracture parameter (Ct) has various variables relating to the specimen and crack shape, applied stress, and creep strain curve. The H and q was inferred by OLS regression (ordinary least square method), and the H values were solved in statistics and probability assessment, which were attained fromPDF's distributions (probability density function). The HAZ part has the highest value of q by OLS regression and the widest distribution of H by PDF of WEIBULL, which means that the crack sensitivity of HAZ should be cautioned against the creep crack growth and failure.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.53 no.9
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• pp.2977-2981
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• 2021

Corrosion fatigue crack growth (FCG) behavior of 316LN stainless steel was investigated in high-temperature pressurized water at different temperatures, load ratios (R = K_max/K_min) and rise times (t_R). The environmental assisted effect on FCG rate was observed when both the R and t_R exceeded their critical values. The FCG rate showed a linear relation with stress intensity factor range (ΔK) in double logarithmic coordinate. The environmental assisted effect on FCG rate depended on the ΔK and quantitative relations were proposed. Possible mechanisms of environmental assisted FCG rate under different testing conditions are also discussed.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.141-158
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• 2005

A new design of distributed crack sensors based on the topological change of transmission line cables is presented for the condition assessment of reinforced concrete (RC) structures during and immediately after an earthquake event. This study is primarily focused on the performance of cable sensors under dynamic loading, particularly a feature that allows for some "memory" of the crack history of an RC member. This feature enables the post-earthquake condition assessment of structural members such as RC columns, in which the earthquake-induced cracks are closed immediately after an earthquake event due to gravity loads, and are visually undetectable. Factors affecting the onset of the feature were investigated experimentally with small-scale RC beams under cyclic loading. Test results indicated that both crack width and the number of loading cycles were instrumental in the onset of the memory feature of cable sensors. Practical issues related to dynamic acquisition with the sensors are discussed. The sensors were proven to be fatigue resistant from shake table tests of RC columns. The sensors continued to show useful performance after the columns can no longer support additional loads.