FATIGUE RESISTANCE OF A STEEL RAILWAY BRIDGE

The paper describes different designs and optimization of a tied arch railway bridge. The first design considered was a tied arch with vertical suspension hangers. Three further designs using triangulated hangers were also considered. The design criterium for fatigue damage due to the several loading spectra was chosen to be the spectrum corresponding to the largest local stress variation. In the case of a completely optimized structure, fatigue resistance becomes more limiting than ultimate limit state of load-carrying capacity. For the covering abstract of the conference see IRRD 858334. The French title of this paper is:- Resistance a la fatigue d'un ponts-rail. The German title of this paper is:- Ermuedungswiderstand einer Eisenbahnbruecke.