Fatigue Life Evaluation of Parallel Steel-Wire Cables under the Combined Actions of Corrosion and Traffic Load

Abstract

Fatigue and corrosion are the main reasons for the failure of stay cables. Traffic load also plays a significant role in cable fatigue. To study the fatigue life of stay cables under the combined action of traffic load and corrosion, this study originally deduced the fatigue probability model for steel wires, considering the stress range and average stress based on the nonlinear fatigue damage model. Then, the weight loss rate was introduced into the fatigue probability model for steel wires in order to obtain the fatigue life probability model for corroded steel wires. Subsequently, a Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) was conducted to predict the fatigue life of stay cables under different guaranteed probabilities. Finally, using a cable-stayed bridge on the Yangtze River in China as an example, the fatigue life of the stay cables in the bridge under the combined effects of different corrosive environments and measured traffic loads was evaluated. Results indicate that both the stress range and mean stress affect the fatigue life of the steel wire. The fatigue life of stay cables is determined by a few steel wires with shorter lives, and the stress redistribution accelerates the failure of the inner wire of the stay cables. The fatigue life of the stay cables on background engineering is much less than the design life of the bridge under the combined actions of a middle-level or high-level corrosive environment and traffic load.