Fatigue of Large-Scale Welded Girders Under Simulated Highway Loadings

Abstract

In order to examine the fatigue strengths of welded bridge details subjected to traffic loading, four large-scale welded girders were tested with various gusset details, transverse stiffener and cover-plates. The results were compared with the fatigue strengths of joint specimens and the allowable stresses in some specifications. Furthermore, the applicability of drilling holes as a retrofitting technique was investigated.