Complex welded structures such as bridges are very often designed with the help of FE analysis. However, one should remain cautious when using such an analysis, since the results are mesh sensitive, with especially the mesh density and the element type influencing the results. In addition, these results are in most cases retrieved in hot spot areas with high stress gradients, where the maximum stress even cannot be correctly determined with linear elastic finite element analysis. For that reason, a stress evaluation method is required to obtain relevant stress levels that can be directly related to fatigue detailing. The most complete set of stress evaluation recommendations is given in the Recommendations for Fatigue Design of Welded Joints and Components from the International Institute of Welding. Nevertheless, several authors have recently commented on the difficulties regarding the application of these methods for the rib to floorbeam welds in orthotropic bridge decks. This paper provides findings for this type of connections based on both shell and solid model analysis and relates these findings to work from other authors.
A rational evaluation method for deterioration of highway bridge decks.
