Critical distance-based fatigue evaluation of welded joints in steel bridge under bending loading

Abstract

Welded joints are prone to fatigue cracking under bending loading in steel bridges. However, certain design curves for these joints primarily focus on tensile or bending-tension loads, potentially leading to inaccurate assessments. This study conducted bending fatigue tests on fillet welded joints (FWJs), evaluating the suitability of specification methods for assessing their fatigue performance and attempting to determine the strength curves required for fatigue assessment. Furthermore, it validated the feasibility of the traditional theory of critical distance (TCD) in predicting the fatigue life of FWJs under bending loading. On this basis, a TCD assessment method incorporating the welding residual stress (WRS) was proposed. The results indicate that the fatigue design curve of the specifications provides conservative predictions for the fatigue performance of FWJs under bending loading, and FAT112 from Eurocode3 may be suitable for fatigue assessment using hot-spot stress and nominal stress methods. Furthermore, predicting fatigue life for FWJs under bending loading with traditional TCD is feasible. Compared to traditional TCD, the proposed method significantly improves prediction accuracy, with a minimum scatter factor of just 1.5. The proposed TCD not only considers the WRS effect but also reduce the need for numerous fatigue tests to establish the design curve for a specific welded joint.