Fatigue Life Evaluation of Existing Railway Riveted Steel Bridges

Abstract:

This paper aims to evaluate the fatigue life of an existing railway riveted steel bridge. Based on the measured train load information, the current load spectrum of the bridge is obtained, and the stress histories and stress spectrum of main members of the bridge are achieved using FE model and rain-flow counting method. The fatigue life of the bridge using traditional method is evaluated. At the same time, the finite element (FE) model of riveted component is established and the stress intensity factor of crack tip is calculated. The fatigue crack is simulated on the basis of linear elastic fracture mechanics (LEFM), and the fatigue life of the main members is also evaluated based on the damage tolerance analysis method. The evaluated results of fatigue life show that the fatigue remaining life of the bridge is very long due to the lower live load stress level.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 243-249)
• Pages: 387-395
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.243-249.387
• Online since: May 2011
• Authors: Xu Hui He, Hai Tao Wu
• Keywords: Fatigue Life Evaluation, Load Spectrum, Rail-Flow Counting Method, Railway Riveted Steel Bridge, Stress Intensity Factor (SIF), Stress Spectrum

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