| Title | Optimization of Rib-to-Deck Welds for Steel Orthotropic Bridge Decks |
|---|---|
| Record ID | 61409 |
| Personal Name Creator |
Ocel, Justin M.; Cross, B; Wright, W J; Yuan, H |
| Corporate Creator | United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Infrastructure Research and Development |
| Corporate Contributor |
United States. Federal Highway Administration |
| Publisher | United States. Federal Highway Administration |
| Publication Date | 20170201 |
| Language | English |
| Abstract | Orthotropic steel decks have been widely used over the decades, especially on long-span bridges as a result of their lightweight and fast construction. However, fatigue cracking problems have been observed in the welds in many cases because of wheel loads. The rib-to-deck welds need special care because they are directly located under wheel loads and are subjected to both local and global stress effects. When this research began, the current practice in the United States was to use a one-sided partial penetration weld joining the rib and deck plates together with a minimum of 80-percent penetration requirement. Melt-through and blow were also considered rejectable defects. Restrictive requirements such as these result in a very narrowly defined welding procedure with little tolerance for variation. In practice, this leads to numerous weld repairs and rigorous inspection requirements that drive up the cost of orthotropic deck fabrication. This study shows that the 80-percent penetration requirement can be significantly relaxed because fatigue performance was largely dictated by weld size and not penetration. A simple correlation is provided between weld size and penetration to guarantee American Association of State and Highway Transportation Officials category C fatigue performance that should provide for more relaxed fabrication specifications. Finally, specimens fabricated with purposeful fit-up gaps were found to close provided the original gap did not exceed 0.020 inch. |
| Rosap ID | dot:35915 |
| Rosap URL | https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/35915 |
| TRT Terms | Bridge decks; Fatigue tests; Optimization; Orthotropic plates; Steel bridges; Welds |
| Classification | NTL - HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION - Bridges and Structures; NTL - HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION - Design; NTL - HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION - HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION |
| Geographical Coverage |
North America |
| TRIS Online Accession No |
1634709 |
| Contract Number | DTFH61-04-C-00029 |
| Report Number | FHWA-HRT-17-020 |
| Availability | Federal Highway Administration |
| Resource type | Tech Report |
| URL | https://ntlrepository.blob.core.windows.net/lib/61000/61400/61409/17020.pdf |
| Alternative URL | https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/structures/bridge/17020/17020.pdf |
| Format | |
| Database | NTL Digital Repository |