Effective Notch Stress Method for Fatigue Evaluation of Welded Joints in a Steel Bridge Deck

Abstract

Effective notch stress, as an approach to evaluate the local stress at a notch (weld toe or root), is defined as the total stress assuming linear-elastic material behavior. This method can be effectively used to evaluate the fatigue performance of welded joints. In this study, finite element analysis results using the effective notch stress method were correlated with fatigue test results of rib-to-deck welded joints in a steel orthotropic bridge deck. Effective notch stress approach provided a good correlation with the crack pattern observed in the full-scale fatigue test. A higher effective notch stress at the critical weld toe than at the weld root was consistent with the dominant crack pattern observed at the weld toe during testing. The effective notch stress at the toe on the deck plate was about 80% higher than that on the rib; no cracks at the weld toe on the rib in the testing were observed. Maximum effective notch stress at the weld root occurred on the upper side of the root notch, which indicates that cracks are more likely to propagate into the deck plate, not into the weld metal. This is also consistent with the observed crack pattern in which the crack from the root propagated upward into the deck plate. No such crack pattern, propagating into the weld metal, was observed in the testing.