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Evaluation of welded joints of vertical stiffener to web under fatigue load by hotspot stress method

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Abstract

The feasibility of intermittent fillet weld at the connection of vertical web stiffener and web plate in steel box girder bridge was studied considering vehicular fatigue loading. The study was conducted using FEM models taken from real three span steel box girder bridge with three box-girders connected by reinforced concrete deck. Web-to-stiffener connections at the middle of span and near the support of the bridge were studied in detail using refined 3D linear finite element analysis. Then, using structural hot spot stress approach, fatigue load induced stress was evaluated on the welded parts, and parametric study was conducted on a range of intermittent fillet weld parameters to evaluate the maximum fatigue load induced stress. The results of the parametric study are compared with maximum fatigue stress thresholds specified in design codes to verify the applicability of the proposed detail. Finally, some conclusion and recommendations are given on the applicability of intermittent fillet weld for web-to-stiffener connections of steel box girder bridges.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada

    Abiy Fantaye Melaku

  2. School of Civil Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Chungbuk, 28644, South Korea

    Kyoung Sup Jung

Authors
  1. Abiy Fantaye Melaku
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  2. Kyoung Sup Jung
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Correspondence to Kyoung Sup Jung.

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Melaku, A.F., Jung, K.S. Evaluation of welded joints of vertical stiffener to web under fatigue load by hotspot stress method. Int J Steel Struct 17, 257–264 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13296-016-0088-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13296-016-0088-6

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