Fatigue Life of Riveted Steel Bridges

1. Introduction 1.1 Background 1.2 Aim 1.3 Scope and limitations 1.4 Contents of this thesis 2. Previous Work - A Literature Survey 2.1 Static behaviour of riveted connections 2.2 Fatigue tests of riveted joints 2.3 Full-scale fatigue tests of riveted bridge members and joints 2.3.1 "Experiments to determine the effect on impact, vibratory action, and long-continued changes of load on wrought-iron girders" (Fairbairn 1864) 2.3.2 "Fatigue life extension of riveted connections' (Reemsnyder 1975) 2.3.3 "Comportement a la fatigue de profiles lamines avec semelles de renfort rivetees" (Rabemanantsoa and Hirt 1984) 2.3.4 "Fatigue strength of weathered and deteriorated riveted members" (Out, Fisher and Yen 1984) 2.3.5 "Fatigue of riveted connections" (Baker and Kulak 1985) 2.3.6 "Fatigue and fracture evaluation for rating riveted bridges" (Fisher, Yen, Wang and Mann 1987) 2.3.7 "Fatigue strength of corroded steel plates from old Railway bridge" (Abe 1989) 2.3.8 "Fatigue and fracture of riveted bridge members" (Bruhwiler, Smith and Hirt 1990) 2.3.9 "Experimental and theoretical investigations of existing railway bridges" (Mang and Bucak 1990) 2.3.10 A comparison and summary of the results from the full-scale fatigue tests 3. Riveted Connections 3.1 Historical review 3.2 Riveting technique 3.3 Load-carrying capacity 3.3.1 Clamping force 3.3.2 Mechanical properties 3.3.3 Shear strength 3.3.4 Tensile strength 3.4 Fatigue life if riveted connections 4. Fatigue of Riveted Railway Bridges 4.1 General 4.2 Fatigue critical details 4.3 Dynamic amplification 4.4 Brittle fracture 4.5 Corrosion 4.6 Inspection and maintenance 4.7 Reinforcement methods 5. Field Studies 5.1 General 5.2 Visual inspection 5.3 Strain measurements 5.4 Deflection 5.5 Dynamic amplification 5.6 Crack control 5.7 Steel samples 5.8 Material testing 5.9 Load-carrying capacity 5.9.1 General 5.9.2 Design load 5.9.3 Remaining fatigue life 5.9.4 Fracture mechanics analysis 6. Full-scale Fatigue Tests of Riveted Girders 6.1 General 6.2 Test specimens 6.3 Test set-up and testing procedure 6.4 Test results 6.4.1 Fatigue loading 6.4.2 Tension tests 6.4.3 Impact testing 6.4.4 Chemical analysis 6.4.5 Clamping force 6.4.6 Fatigue damage accumulation 6.5 Comparison with other investigations 6.6 Future investigations 7. Summary and Conclusions 8. Modern Research