Fatigue evaluation of hot spot stress in fatigue vulnerable area of bridge deck structure based on thermal energy modelling

Abstract

The paper takes a Yangtze River bridge as the object, establishes a finite element model of the highway orthotropic steel deck structure, calculates and analyzes the fatigue stress of specific structural details based on the hot spot stress method, and obtains the fatigue vulnerable area of this type of bridge deck structure. Based on the bridge?s actual use, the thesis calculates and evaluates the fatigue life of the typical welding details of the bridge deck based on the American Highway Bridge Design Code. The results show that the fatigue stress amplitude calculation of the five types of fatigue vulnerable structure details under the Fatigue ? and Fatigue ? limit states. The values are all less than the allowable value, and the fatigue life meets the design requirements.