Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Fatigue life evaluation of a composite steel-concrete roadway bridge T

through the hot-spot stress method considering progressive pavement
deterioration
⁎
Guilherme Alencara, , Abílio M.P. de Jesusb, Rui A.B. Calçadaa, José Guilherme S. da Silvac
a
CONSTRUCT, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
b
LAETA-INERGI, Faculty of Engineering (FEUP), University of Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
c
Structural Engineering Department, State University of Rio de Janeiro, Rua São Francisco Xavier, No. 524, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Steel and composite steel-concrete bridges are subjected to random traffic loads along their life cycle which
Distortion-induced fatigue generate significant dynamic impacts. The road-roughness of asphalt pavements is one of the most important
Structural dynamics aspects that contributes to the significant increase of the stress amplitudes and hence to serious load-induced
Fatigue behaviour fatigue concerns. In this context, welded joints are well known as the weakest points in bridges, since they are
Web-gap cracking
prone to stress concentrations leading to initiation of fatigue cracks being in current design codes evaluated
Road-roughness
using primarily the nominal stress method (NSM). However, a more accurate stress definition, which considers
Hot-spot stress method
Composite bridges the complexity of the stress field at the welds, becomes necessary mainly in old roadway steel bridges that are
often subjected to out-of-plane stresses. In this paper, the hot-spot stress method (HSM) is used to evaluate the
fatigue life of a welded joint subjected to distortion induced-fatigue, considering the vehicle speeds and a
progressive deterioration model for the road pavement. The welded joint was modelled by solid elements and
was integrated with a 3D dynamic bridge model using the sub modelling technique. Besides the importance of
considering the bridge-vehicle dynamic interactions with the pavement road-roughness, the dynamic amplifi-
cation effects on local stresses and the relatively high scatter found in the fatigue lives considering global and
local approaches show that a detailed local stress definition is fundamental to evaluate the fatigue performance
of existing roadway bridges. The effects of the annual traffic increase rate on the fatigue life are also discussed.

1. Introduction cracking is the result of out-of-plane distortion or other unanticipated

During the life cycle of a bridge, dynamic impacts due to random
traffic loads and deteriorated road surface conditions can induce serious
fatigue issues for bridge components. For roadway bridges, Nishikawa
et al. [1] have reported that such fatigue cracks are mainly due to both
the relative deflection of main girders and the reinforced concrete deck
by the wheel load of heavy traffic, becoming more frequent in roadway
steel girder bridges. In fact, according to Fisher & Roy [2] until the
1970’s the steel bridge construction practice had not used welding in
the transverse web stiffeners to the tension flange of welded I-girders
due to the concern that a fatigue crack initiating in the flange would
lead to brittle fracture, leaving therefore a web gap between the stif-
fener and the tension flange. Afterwards, this detail revealed to be one
of the main causes of distortion-induced cracking, which is caused by
secondary stresses generated by partially restrained deformation.
Connor & Fisher [3] have estimated that nearly 90% of all fatigue
secondary stresses at fatigue-sensitive details. For this reason, infra-
structure maintenance bodies of many countries are concerned with the
assessment of distortion-induced fatigue cracks in old steel bridges with
heavy traffic, in order to ensure their serviceability. This fatigue-sen-
sitive detail is present in the investigated case study bridge of the
present work (see Fig. 1a), hence the present work is concerned with
the fatigue cracks that may develop at weld ends located at the con-
junction of the girder web and the transverse stiffener.
Basically, the fatigue requirement for existing steel bridges can be
stated as the fatigue cycles induced by the traffic load being less than
the available fatigue life of the bridge details. In this context, the pa-
vement road-roughness has proven to have a significant effect on the
dynamic response of roadway bridges [4,5]. In some cases, poor road-
roughness levels could lead to even higher amplification factors than
that presumed by the design load models, being as high as 90% of the
static effects of the moving loads [6]. However, approaches that intend

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: guilherme.alencar@fe.up.pt (G. Alencar).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2018.02.058
Received 25 September 2017; Received in revised form 16 January 2018; Accepted 19 February 2018
Available online 28 March 2018
0141-0296/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
G. Alencar et al.
Concrete deck
(solid element)
a)
Fig. 1. Simply supported steel-concrete roadway bridge: (a) overall view, (b) steel girder geometric characteristics (refer to Table 1 for dimensions).
to predict fatigue lives based on the use of a unique road-roughness
level for the entire bridge lifecycle, can lead to unrealistic results or
over-conservative lives whether one adopts an excellent or poor
roughness level, respectively. Thus, the influence of the progressive
degradation of the road surface roughness in a vehicle-bridge interac-
tion model was considered in the work of Zhang & Cai [7,8], clearly
conducting to more realistic estimations. Zhang et al. [9] have dis-
cussed the effects of adopting a nonlinear fatigue damage accumulation
model for fatigue assessment of existing bridges considering the pro-
gressive road surface deterioration and random dynamic vehicle loads.
Many studies have been conducted to investigate the effect of truck
overloading in bridges, namely to evaluate dynamic impacts in typical
highway bridges through long-term traffic measurement [10] and to
assess the fatigue design of steel bridges considering a pavement de-
terioration model [11]. Wang et al. [12] found that the road surface
condition has a great impact on the equivalent number of stress cycles
due to vehicle dynamic loading. Paraskeva et al. [13] have examined
the seismic response of a vehicle-bridge interacting system under ver-
tical earthquake excitation, combined with the influence of deteriorated
road roughness conditions in the acceleration response of vehicles.
Deng et al. [14] have studied the effect of the pavement maintenance
cycle on the fatigue reliability index of simply-supported steel I-girder
bridges under dynamic vehicle loading.
For standard details usually adopted in bridge design codes, the use
of a fatigue strength based on nominal stresses would lead to more
reliable life estimations only if the actual detail remains more or less
faithful to the original small-scale fatigue tested specimens, following
the principle of similitude. On the other hand, for complex welded
joints and for structural details subjected to secondary stresses, where it
is difficult to define a nominal stress, a more detailed computation of
the stress field at the connection becomes very relevant. This is leading
to a growing adoption of local stress approaches for civil engineering
structures [15,16], focusing on local stress definitions at the fatigue
crack initiation points, in order to mitigate the need of structural stress
concentrations in the design phase, or to better assess the existing
structural details of old steel bridges. Eurocode 3 [17] provides the so-
called hot-spot stress method in annex B as an available local approach,
but giving few instructions, although a review was proposed recently
[18].
One of the main difficulties in the application of local stress methods
is the requirement of finite element models with fine meshes, which is
problematic to achieve in the same single model of the bridge due to
high computational costs and the big scale of the involved structure. For
this reason, a shell-to-solid sub modeling technique is generally em-
ployed [19], in order to transfer the dynamic displacements field from
the global model to the local one. Therefore, this paper presents a
framework for fatigue assessment of existing bridges in their lifetime
serviceability considering the random effects of vehicle speeds and the
47
Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61
bf1
tf1
tw
d
Steel girder
(shell element)
tf2
bf2
b)
progressive deterioration of the pavement road-roughness. The local
stresses are evaluated by the use of the hot-spot stress method [20]
through the sub modeling technique in a specific transverse stiffener
welded to the web and subjected to distortion-induced fatigue.
2. Case study
In this study, a typical simply supported steel bridge designed in
accordance with AASHTO LRFD bridge design specification [21] is
adopted as an example of illustration of the proposed fatigue assess-
ment methodology. The selected case study is a good representative of
real simply-supported steel bridges, corresponding to a composite
steel–concrete roadway bridge with a straight axis, and spanning
13.0 m by 40.0 m, see Fig. 1 [22]. The structural system consists of four
steel girders and a 0.225 m thick concrete slab, as shown in Fig. 2a. The
steel sections considered are welded wide flanges made with A588 steel
with 350 MPa yield strength and 485 MPa ultimate tensile strength. A
2.05 × 105 MPa Young’s modulus with 0.3 Poisson’s ratio and 7850 kg/
m3 material density was adopted for the steel girders. The concrete slab
possesses 2500 kg/m3 density, 25 MPa compression strength and
3.05 × 104 MPa of Young’s modulus, with 0.2 Poisson’s ratio. Tables 1
and 2 depict the geometrical characteristics of the used steel plates in
the bridge design. In order to prevent web buckling, steel plate stif-
feners are welded along the steel girders with 1880 mm spacing at the
span-sections and 1200 mm spacing at the support-sections. Steel plate
stiffeners were also adopted above the girder supports. Two different
cross sections were adopted along the longitudinal composite beams,
designated as support cross-section and span cross-section, as presented
in Fig. 2b. The structure comprises cross diaphragms in the form of steel
trusses, as shown in Fig. 3. The diaphragms are made of equal angle
profiles with 10 mm wall thickness.
2.1. Bridge global finite element model
The computational model developed for the dynamic analysis of the
composite bridge adopted the usual mesh refinement techniques pre-
sent in finite element method simulations implemented in the ANSYS
program [19]. The girder top and bottom flanges, the girder web and
the longitudinal and vertical stiffeners were represented by shell finite
elements (SHELL63). The bridge concrete slab was simulated by solid
finite elements (SOLID45). The transverse steel bracing system was si-
mulated by beam finite elements (BEAM44). The final computational
model adopted used 28,875 nodes, 21,020 shell elements, 4600 solid
elements and 656 beam elements, which resulted in a numeric model
with 135,844 degrees of freedom. The strain compatibility between the
solid elements (concrete slab) and the shell elements (steel plate gir-
ders) was guaranteed by coupling the corresponding degrees of
freedom, simulating the composite bridge decks’ full interaction. The
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

13000

175
1178

75

225

3178
300
2000

2L 127x127x10
1250 3500 3500 3500 1250
13000
a)
8100 11900 11900 8100

G1
3500 3500 3500

Support cross-section Span cross-section

G2

G3

G4
5629 5629 5628 5628 5628 5629 5629
40000

b)
Fig. 2. Geometry and dimensions of the steel-concrete bridge section: (a) bridge section at support, (b) bridge steel girders top view (units in millimetres).

damping ratio is assumed to be 0.5%, as stated by EN 1991-2 [23] for Table 2

steel and composite steel-concrete bridges. Figs. 4 and 5 illustrate the Geometrical characteristics of the web plate stiffeners (units in millimetres).
bridge finite element model. The composite bridge natural frequencies Location Height Width Thickness
were determined with the aid of the numerical simulations. The asso-
ciated composite bridge main global vibration modes are shown in Support stiffeners 1925 200 22.0
Transverse stiffeners 1845 450 12.5
Fig. 6.
Longitudinal stiffeners 12.5

3. Fatigue assessment
The stress collective is calculated using the Rainflow cycle counting
3.1. Global SN approach method specified in ASTM E 1049–85 [25] for the traffic simulated with
dynamic numerical analysis. The above fatigue assessment guidelines
The fatigue assessment presented in this paper is based on were implemented into a software [26], following the rules presented in
Palmgren-Miner linear damage summation, Dd [24], as presented in Eq. Eurocode 3 [17].
(1). Current fatigue assessment of steel structures in existing steel
standards are based on the SN curves approach, with typical structural
details organized into different fatigue strength categories. Each detail 3.2. Local approach: the hot-spot stress method
category is represented by the corresponding SN curve, where the fa-
tigue strength Δσ is a function of the number of cycles, NR, both re- Fatigue assessment based on local stresses is often used when no
presented in logarithmic scales. Then, the fatigue resistance is defined specific detail category is available in the nominal approach.
as NR = C.Δσ−m, where NR is the number of cycles to failure for stress Recommendations and procedures are found in IIW [20], both for nu-
range, Δσ; C is the constant representing the influence of the structural merical approaches and field measurements. This paper adopts the
detail and m is the slope of the mean test results line, both constants extrapolated stresses at the plate surface as parameter for the fatigue
being related to material and geometry properties of the detail. life assessment (see Fig. 7). In the literature, such extrapolated stress is
often referred to as structural stress, geometric stress, or structural hot-
k
n E1 n E2 n E3 n Ei spot stress. To avoid any confusion in the discussions in this paper, all
Dd = + + + …= ∑
NR1 NR2 NR3 N Ri (1) surface extrapolation-based stresses are referred to as hot-spot stress
i=1
throughout this paper. The hot-spot stress describes the macrostructural

Table 1
Geometrical characteristics of the girder steel plates (units in millimetres).
Section location Height (d) Top flange width (bf1) Top flange thickness (tf1) Bottom flange width (bf2) Bottom flange thickness (tf2) Web thickness (tw)

Support cross-section 2000 450 25 450 50 9.5

Span cross-section 2000 500 25 670 50 9.5

48
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

Longitudinal stiffeners Transverse stiffeners

10
127

127
(a) Cross-bracing B1:
L127x127x10
10
Support
127
stiffners

127
(b) Cross-bracing B2:
2L127x127x10

B2 B1

Fig. 3. Cross-diaphragms sections and illustration of the web plate stiffeners.

26,276 elements
28,875 nodes
y
x
z

a) b)
Fig. 4. Finite element model of the roadway bridge: (a) overall view of the bridge model and (b) a close-up view at the model.

Solid elements
(SOLID45)

Shell elements
(SHEL63)

Beam elements
(BEAM44)

Fig. 5. Finite element modeling of the section at supports.

Fig. 6. Main global vibration modes of the

bridge obtained using the finite element
model.

a) f01 = 2.97 Hz b) f02 = 3.67 Hz c) f03 = 9.69 Hz d) f04 = 10.87 Hz

behaviour excluding local notch effects (e.g. weld toe radius). The hot- where t stands for the plate thickness. Optionally, a linear extrapolation
spot stress is usually evaluated based on extrapolation of stresses at using two points at different distances can also be used [20], but is not
prescribed distances adjacent to the notch, usually the weld toe. In recommended for high bending stress fields.
Fig. 7, the hot-spot stress is obtained at point O based on a quadratic
σHS = 2.52·σ0.4t −2.24·σ0.9t + 0.72·σ1.4t (3)
extrapolation of reference points 0.4t, 0.9t and 1.4t according to Eq. (3),

49
G. Alencar et al.
z
Notch stress
Hot-spot stress
Nominal stress
Weld toe
x, y
O
1.4t
0.4t 0.9t
t
Reference points
Fig. 7. Typical representation of the hot-spot stress extrapolation to the weld
toe.
3.3. Fatigue prone detail and local finite element model
A crucial stage in fatigue assessment of steel bridges is to identify
the most fatigue prone locations, subjected to the major stress ampli-
tudes. The fatigue assessment of the investigated structural detail in this
work, according to steel bridge design codes [17], should use the
nominal stresses at the transverse stiffener assessed in the longitudinal
direction and considering a FAT80 class according to global SN ap-
proach. However, there is usually some difficulty to determine the
nominal stresses at the web near to the transverse stiffener, due to the
high secondary stress normally involved, leading to a less accurate fa-
tigue damage assessment. In this situation, the hot-spot stress method
can be used, for which the same welded detail possess the FAT100 class,
type ‘a’ fatigue strength [20].
Transverse stiffeners are welded with different spacing along the
web girder, being 1.2 m for the support sections, and 1.88 m for the
span sections. The most critical transverse stiffeners weld ends in the
present bridge case study are clearly located at the midspan in a region
of positive moment. For the slow lane statically loaded by the con-
sidered two-axle truck, being 70 kN the 1st axle and 130 kN the 2nd
axle (Table 4.7 of EN 1991-2 [23]), it can be computed a differential
vertical displacement at the midspan between the external girders of
almost 12.7 mm (Fig. 8). This eccentric traffic loading is responsible to
the in-plane and out-of-plane bending of the web near to the transverse
stiffener weld end located in the most external girder, G4 (Fig. 2b).
Therefore, these findings justified the sub modeling of the transverse
stiffener detail at this location (Fig. 9). The finite element mesh of the
sub model adopts solid elements with quadratic shape functions (the so-
called 20-noded SOLID186 element) and it follows the rules indicated
in IIW [20] for a fine mesh and a quadratic extrapolation with three
extrapolation points. In order to take into account the local stiffness at
the critical points of the sub model, the fillet welds were completely
modelled, and no structural imperfections or misalignments were con-
sidered, since all stress concentration due to the former are already
included in the hot-spot stress determination and any allowance for
misalignment is covered in hot-spot SN curves within a limit of 5%
stress magnification [20]. As can be seen in Fig. 9d, the sub model of
the investigated detail has much more nodes and elements than the
global FE model of the bridge, which justifies the use of the sub
Slow lane
a)
Fig. 8. (a) Two axles fatigue truck positioned at the slow lane and (b) the corresponding distortion effect due to differential displacement of steel girders due to traffic
static loading.
50
Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61
modeling technique to reduce computation costs and obtain reliable
estimations of the stress gradient at the weld toe.
4. Vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction simulation
The vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction is performed in a beam-like
2D model in order to obtain the equivalent nodal forces of the vehicle-
bridge interaction effect. The 2D mathematical model assumes a finite
element representation of the beam-like girder bridge with 40 m span
(refer to Table 3 for detailed characteristics of the model) and the ve-
hicle simulation uses concentrated parameters of mass blocks, springs
and damping devices [6].
The mathematical model simulates the bridge structure and the
vehicle series as a system, the vehicle-bridge system. The vehicle and
the bridge deck are assembled together to form just one system. The
equations of motion for the vehicle and the bridge are derived based on
the following matrices, Eqs. (4) and (5):
[MV ]{d¨v} + [Cv]{d v̇ } + [Kv]{d v} = {FvG} + {Fc } (4)
[Mb]{d¨b} + [Cb]{dḃ } + [Kb]{db} = {Fb} (5)
where [Mv] is the mass matrix, [Cv] is the damping matrix, and [Kv] is
the stiffness matrix that are obtained by considering the equilibrium of
the forces and moments of the system; {FvG} is the self-weight of ve-
hicle; {Fc} is the vector of wheel-road contact forces acting on the ve-
hicle; [Mb], [Cb] and [Kb] are respectively the mass, damping and
stiffness matrix of the bridge; and {Fb} is the global nodal loading
vector due to the interaction between the bridge and the vehicle. The
effect of the pavement roughness is introduced in the vehicle-bridge
system equations of motion as a load vector analogous to what would
be considered if the vehicle was subjected to a base movement equal to
the irregular pavement profile, Eq. (6), as stated by Wang & Huang
[27]:
̇
{Fb} = −{Fc } = kpi dpyi + cpi dpi (6)
In which kpi = tire stiffness of the ith axle; cpi = tire damping
coefficient of the ith axle; dpyi = relative displacement between the ith
axle and the bridge = yai – (– usri) – (– ybi); yai = vertical displacement
of the ith axle; usri = road surface roughness under the ith axle (positive
upward); and ybi = bridge vertical displacements under the ith axle
(positive upward). Following this procedure, all the interaction vector
forces can be generated in the 2D model, which is solved by direct
integration of the coupled equations of motions, Eqs. (4) and (5). These
equivalent nodal forces are imported to the 3D complex finite element
model in ANSYS as moving loads. Next, the dynamic response of the 3D
finite element model is assessed using the modal superposition method
[28,29], for which is generally accepted that it is dependent on the
modal forces vector over time presented in Eq. (7):
12,7 mm
b)
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

Fig. 9. Distortion-induced fatigue and local sub

modeling: (a) web gaps in transverse stiffener;
(b) investigated web stiffener and its corre-
sponding FAT class for nominal stress approach
[17]; (c) structural detail in the global finite
element model (shell elements) and (d) struc-
tural detail in the local finite element model
(solid elements).

Table 3 nodes of the local finite element model. These displacements are ex-
Characteristics of the simply-supported beam-like 2D model. changed and interpolated between the global and the local model using
No. Nodes No. Elements Concentrated mass Equivalent bridge f01 (Hz)
the so-called cut boundary interpolation files [19] (also known as CBDO
values (kg) inertia (m4) files), being required a different CBDO file for each vibration mode used
in the dynamic solution. Next, static analyses are performed with the
Support Span Support Span local finite element model for each group of imposed boundary di-
section section section section
mensionless modal displacements j, in order to obtain the corre-
nodes nodes
sponding three nodal modal stress components ([ σx], [σy] and [σxy]) of
41 40 8960 9340 0.336 0.397 2.85 the three nodes at the plate surface used to compute the extrapolated
hot-spot stress at the weld toe. It is highlighted that the nodal stresses
are actually obtained from an interpolation of the element stresses
⎡ Φ1,1 ⋯ Φ1,k ⋯ Φ1,K ⎤
Fb1 (t ) ⎤ evaluated at the element integration points [19]. The modal stress
⎡ F1…(t ) ⎤ ⎢ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⎥⎡ …
⎢ ⎥ ⎢ ⎥ component [σz] perpendicular to the plane was neglected, since four
F (t ) = ⎢ Fj (t ) ⎥ = ⎢ Φj,1 ⋯ Φj,k ⎥
⋯ Φj,K ·⎢ Fbk (t ) ⎥ elements were discretized through the plate thickness and it was con-
⎢ ⎥
⎢ … ⎥ ⎢ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⋱ ⋮ ⎥⎢ … ⎥ sidered that at the free surface there is a plane stress state.
⎢
⎣ F (t ) ⎥
⎦ ⎢ ΦJ ,1 ⎢
⎣ FbK (t ) ⎥
J
⎣ ⋯ ΦJ ,k ⋯ ΦJ ,K ⎥
⎦
⎦ (7) The stresses time-histories components of each traffic event, that is,
σx(t), σy(t) and σxy(t) were computed as the sum of the corresponding
where Φj,k is the vertical modal displacement exported from ANSYS of
nodal modal stress components multiplied by the generalized modal
the degree of freedom k, for the mode of vibration j, and Fb(t) is the
coordinates of every truck passages obtained from the mode super-
loading vector imported from the beam-like 2D model, which includes
position solution of the 3D finite element model. Different road-
the vehicle self-weight and the vehicle road-roughness interaction
roughness levels and vehicle speeds are taken into account through the
forces. It is important to highlight that the implemented approach only
vector interaction forces imported from the beam-like 2D model. These
needs to use the vertical modal displacements of the degrees of free-
time-histories are extrapolated by the hot-spot method to the weld toe,
doms of the nodes with applied loads [29]. For the present case, these
and then the stress components are used to obtain the principal stress
nodes correspond with those in contact with the tires during the vehicle
time-history by finding the eigenvalues of the symmetric tensor.
crossing. Provided the roadway traffic lanes are well defined, the nodes
Finally, the principal stresses time-histories are used to compute the
in contact with the vehicle tires can be easily pre-determined in the 3D
fatigue damage, as recommended by the IIW [20], since its direction
finite element model.
remains almost within ± 60° to the weld line, which is ensured by
calculating the direction cosines of the stress tensor components of the
4.1. Determination of local stress time-histories by the finite element method extrapolation points. This overall process, including the importation of
the interaction forces from the beam-like 2D model, the dynamic ana-
Starting from the modal dynamic response of the bridge 3D finite lysis and the sub modeling procedure required the development of a
element model it is possible to obtain the modal displacements at the computer routine thus obtaining the local stress time-histories in an
boundaries of the local detail for each mode of vibration j and then to automated mode by integrating ANSYS and Matlab [30].
apply them as imposed displacements on the corresponding boundary

51
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

4.2. Determination of nominal stress time-histories Table 4

Dynamic properties of the assumed fatigue truck.
Nominal stress time-histories were obtained from two different Parameter 1st axle 2nd axle Units Description
sources: (a) the 3D FE model of the bridge, more specifically the global
σx(t) stresses located near the investigated detail (Fig. 9c), determined kv 864 2340 kN/m Suspension spring stiffness
kp 1620 6720 kN/m Tire spring stiffness
in the same manner as the local stresses, and (b) the beam-like 2D
cv 6 12 kNs/m Suspension damping coefficient
model, for which the dynamic analysis of the vehicle-bridge system is cp 2 2 kNs/m Tire damping coefficient
solved by full numerical integration of the coupled equations of motion mp 635 1066 kg Suspension mass
through the Newmark algorithm [4]. Subsequently, one can compute Total mass (m) 20.3 t
the global bending moment ranges over time for the beam-like 2D Truck body mass (ms) 18,599 kg
Natural frequencies (f) [1.32;2.41;11.39;14.74] Hz
model, M(t). These bending moment ranges are used to obtain the
longitudinal stresses over time using the section properties of the
composite steel-concrete girder, which were also validated with the 5. Modeling of progressive deterioration for road surface
global tridimensional finite element model in Alencar [5]. In order to
correctly obtain the stresses at one steel girder, one must compute the 5.1. Generation of the road surface roughness spectra
applied moment in a specific girder. This is performed by multiplying M
(t) by the AASHTO distribution factor for steel girder bridges with re- Road surface roughness is generally defined as an expression of ir-
inforced concrete slabs. In this paper, a 0.547 value was computed for regularities of the road surface, and it is the primary factor affecting the
the girder distribution factor considering one design lane loaded. Fur- dynamic response of both vehicles and bridges, as shown by Silva and
thermore, for the fatigue limit state, the distribution factor should be Roehl [32]. Based on the studies carried out by Dodds & Robson [33]
divided by 1.2, since multiple presence factors are not to be applied for the road surface roughness was assumed as a zero-mean stationary
fatigue if one design truck is used, as specified in Article 3.6.1.1.2 of Gaussian random process, and it can be generated through an inverse
AASHTO [21]. The nominal stress at the bottom flange is obtained by Fourier transformation as shown in Eq. (8):
dividing the applied moment in the girder to the composite bending
modulus, WSG, equal to 81,389 cm3. Then, the stress at the bottom N

flange must be interpolated 130 mm above, since the investigated

r (x ) = ∑ 2·ΔΩ·Gd (Ωi) ·cos(2π·Ωi x + θi )
i=1 (8)
welded detail is at the end of the transverse stiffener. This is made
though the calculation of the theoretical constant neutral line at the where θi = random phase-angle uniformly distributed from 0 to 2π,
investigated composite section; in this case approximately equal to Gd(Ω) = power spectral density (PSD) function (cm3/cycle) for the road
1.49 m (adopting the bottom flange as horizontal axis). Finally, fol- surface elevation, and Ωi = wave number (cycles/m). The PSD function
lowing this procedure it is possible to obtain the nominal stress time- for road surface roughness were developed by Dodds & Robson [33], as
histories at the referred detail using the beam-like 2D model subjected presented in Eq. (9):
to vehicle dynamic loads for different speeds and pavement roughness −2
Ω
levels. Gd (Ωi) = Gd (Ω0) ⎛ i ⎞
⎜ ⎟

Ω
⎝ 0⎠ (9)

where Ω = spatial frequency of the pavement harmonic i (cycles/m),

4.3. The assumed fatigue vehicle
The fatigue truck used in the present work is presented in Fig. 10a,
being one of the most common vehicles in local roads in Brazil (see
Fig. 10a). The two-axle truck structural-mechanical model used is
shown in Fig. 10b, with their dynamic properties based on experimental
measurements [31]. The geometry, mass distribution, damping, and
stiffness of the tires and suspension systems of the truck are listed in
Table 4. In the present study, only one vehicle in one lane, traveling
along the bridge at different speeds was considered for fatigue analysis
due to bridge relatively short span length.
Ω0 = discontinuity frequency of 1/2π (equal to 1 rad/m), and
Gd(Ω0) = road roughness coefficient (m3/cycle), also called Road-
Roughness Coefficient (RRC), whose value is chosen depending on the
road class shown in Table 5, EN 1991-2, annex B [23].
5.2. Progressive deterioration model for the road-roughness
In order to consider the road surface damages due to loads or cor-
rosions, a progressive deterioration model for the road-roughness is
necessary when generating the random road profiles. Paterson & Attoh-
Okine [34] have developed such a model considering the International
Roughness Index (IRI), with the values at any time after the service of
road surface being calculated using Eq. (10):

ms șv
CM

k v2 cv2
uv k v1 cv1
mp2
2.0 m mp1
up1
k p1 cp1 k p2 cp2 up2
Road-Roughness
4.5 m

a) b)
Fig. 10. Model of prototype two axles truck: (a) 2C truck geometry scheme, (b) modeling of the rigid body, springs and dampers.

52
G. Alencar et al.
Table 5
Average values of Gd(Ω0) for different levels of road roughness quality (in cm3)
according to EN 1991-2 [23].
Road class Road Gd(Ω0) (cm3) Analogous
quality description
level Lower limit Geometric Upper limit
Mean
A Excellent – 1 2 New roadways
B Good 2 4 8 layers made of
concrete or
asphalt
C Average 8 16 32 Old roadway
layers without
maintenance
D Poor 32 64 128 Roadway
E Very 128 256 512 layers
poor consisting of
cobblestones
or similar
material
IRIt = 1.04e η·t ·[IRI0 + 263(1 + SNC )−5 (CESAL)t ]
where IRIt is the IRI value at time t, IRI0 is the initial roughness value
directly after completing the construction and before opening to traffic,
t is the time in years, and η is the environmental coefficient varying
from 0.01 to 0.7 that depends on dry or wet, freezing or nonfreezing
conditions, usually adopted equal to 0.10 for bridges exposed in general
environment conditions. Structural number (SNC) is a parameter that is
calculated from data on the strength and thickness of each layer in the
pavement, herein adopted equal to 4, and (CESAL)t is the estimated
number of traffic in terms of AASHTO 80-kN (18-kip) cumulative
equivalent single axle load at time t in millions. Following strictly the
rules of AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures [35], the 80-
kN Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL), which is required to obtain
(CESAL)t, was computed equal to 5.693 for the assumed fatigue vehicle
(Fig. 10). The total number of vehicles at first year is considered equal
to 50,000, due to the localization of the bridge within a local road with
a low traffic of trucks [23]. Therefore, the (CESAL)t at first year is
computed as equal to (5.693 × 50,000)/106 = 0.28465, and this value
changes if the number of trucks per year increases. Finally, the RRC can
be correlated with the IRIt using Eq. (11), as shown in [7]:
RRCt = 6.1972 × 10−9 × exp{[1.04ηt ·[IRI0 + 263(1 + SNC )−5 (CESAL)t ]]
/0.42808} + 2 × 10−6
The initial IRI0 varies from one region to another. It may range from
0.90 to 2.0 m/km depending on the specifications adopted in each
country for roads construction. The initial standard value for the IRI0
adopted in this work is 0.90 m/km. The terminal value for the rough-
ness which indicates that the road is no more serviceable has been es-
tablished as being equal to IRI = 3.0 [36]. Substituting the values of
SNC, (CESAL)t and η into Eq. (11), the adopted progressive pavement
deterioration model used in the numerical simulations of the present
work can be obtained (Fig. 11). In this figure, a logarithmic function
was applied to the y-axis in order to obtain a better representation of
the different road-roughness conditions.
It is expected that pavement will serve a period less than the time
span for which it was originally designed, which is usually selected as
more or less 10-years. After a 10-years period, a surface renovation is
performed, and the RRC value recovers to the initial value. Three traffic
scenario growths are considered through a traffic growth rate α, equal
to 0%, 3% and 5%. The use of the Brazilian truck 2C, which has a
computed 80-kN Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL) equal to 5.693,
and the adoption of the same characteristics for the pavement found in
[7–9], namely the environmental coefficient (η = 0.10) and the Struc-
tural number (SNC = 4), lead to a computed period of surface re-
novation of more or less 10 years, which is reasonable with the practice.
Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61
Fig. 11. Deterioration of road roughness pavement in a 15-years period in
terms of ln(RRC × 106).
Others ESAL values were obtained in the mentioned works, since they
assumed different fatigue vehicles, but leading also to similar required
periods of surface renovation.
(10)
6. Results and discussions
6.1. Static analysis: Local stresses at the hot-spot
First, the local stresses at the vertical stiffener weld end due to static
loading were investigated. The obtained local stresses for the fatigue
truck positioned in the slow lane at the midspan, 4.5 m ahead and be-
hind, are shown in Figs. 12–14, with the directions referring to the same
Cartesian coordinate system in the global model (Fig. 4a). The direct
stresses σx (Fig. 12a) are typical due to the global bending of the girder,
while the direct stresses σy (Fig. 12b) are mainly due to local out-of-
plane bending of the local web panel. The relative location of the
maximum direct stresses σx did not change with truck position (Fig. 13),
while the location of the maximum direct stresses σy moved within the
vertical stiffener thickness (12.5 mm) from the beginning (Fig. 14a) to
the end (Fig. 14b) of the longitudinal weld seam, with a global max-
imum in the middle (Fig. 12b). The location of the maximum shear
stresses σxy did not move from the middle of the weld corners, and their
magnitudes were within the limits of Fig. 12c. Thus, since Fig. 12c
shows that shear stresses are not located in the same point of maximum
normal stresses and have a relatively lower magnitude, one can in-
vestigate where a fatigue crack can be expected to initiate based on
(11)
normal stresses σx, either in the right or in the left of the transverse
weld seams (Fig. 12a), and σy in the middle of the longitudinal weld
seam (Fig. 12b). Moreover, according to EN 1991-2 [23], a normal
distribution of the vehicle center line in the transverse direction within
a prescribed range of ± 0.2 m can be adopted when local effects are
being assessed. However, a change in the centerline of the vehicle
of ± 0.5 m resulted in less than 4% of change in the calculated hot-spot
stress. Therefore, the probabilistic transverse normal distribution of the
truck centerline in the slow lane was neglected.
Since the maximum stresses presented in Figs. 12–14 were com-
puted at singularity points, it must be more accurate to compare the
extrapolated stresses instead of the maximum stresses, deciding be-
tween the most appropriate stress components to be extrapolated based
on the principal stress directions. Therefore, as can be seen from
Fig. 16, which illustrates the adopted extrapolation rule for the hot spot
stresses, since the principal stresses directions are almost perpendicular
to the transverse welds, in spite of a small deviation angle, stress ex-
trapolation must use principal stresses σ1 for the transverse weld (HS1
region) and normal stresses σy for the longitudinal weld (HS2 region),
as recommended by the IIW [20]. Thus, for the horizontal weld the
computed hot-spot stress was slightly lower (21.4 MPa) than for the
transverse weld (25.1 MPa) (see Fig. 17), which confirmed that the
extrapolated stresses in the transverse welds are always higher than the
53
G. Alencar et al.
Fig. 12. Local stresses due to static fatigue truck loading at mid-span location (units: MPa).
extrapolated stresses in the longitudinal welds for the considered static
load cases. Therefore, based only on static analysis results, one probably
could consider the ends of transverse welds (HS1) as the most critical
locations. However, dynamic analyses have shown that stresses normal
to the longitudinal weld are much more prone to dynamic amplification
effects.
7. Dynamic analysis
7.1. Comparison of numerical response in terms of nominal stresses
A verification of the engineering approach which consists in export
the vehicle-bridge dynamic interaction forces from the beam-like 2D
model to the 3D FE model is presented for the crossing of a single two-
axle vehicle at the speed of 20 m/s (72 km/h) considering three dif-
ferent road-roughness conditions and a time-span of 20 s. Fig. 17 shows
the obtained nominal stresses at the investigated detail. A preliminary
fatigue damage analysis covering the first 10 years of the bridge’s life-
span period is also presented in Fig. 18 for both models and the same
vehicle speeds distribution as Zhang & Cai [7] (see Table 6). For safety
15.5 m 24.5 m
MAX
(22 MPa)
a)
Fig. 13. Location of maximum local direct stresses σx due to static fatigue truck loading before (a) and after (b) mid-span location (units: MPa).
54
Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61
reasons, a modified SeN curve (FAT80) for nominal stresses without
cut-off limit and a unique slope (m = 3) was adopted for the fatigue
damage calculation.
Fig. 17 shows that the dynamic responses computed using the im-
plemented approach for the 3D finite element model in general match
well with those from the coupled dynamic approach for the beam-like
2D model. In spite of the higher difference observed during the free
vibration phase between both models only for the worst case
(RRC = 32 cm3) in the 10th year, mainly due to the much less-damped
response of the beam-like 2D model, the proposed approach for dy-
namic analysis can be considered to provide an acceptable level of
computational accuracy for fatigue damage evaluation, and can be
extended to evaluate local stresses for the hot-spot stress method.
Complex dynamic loads which occur with the simultaneous crossing of
multiple vehicles are not expected since for the fatigue life estimations
of short span bridges the common practice is to use solely one type of
vehicle crossing alone [13]. Therefore, expected problems that could
occur due to different behavior of both dynamic systems, namely the 3D
finite element model solved in the framework of the dynamic mode
superposition method with imported interaction forces and the coupled
24.5 m 15.5 m
MAX
(25 MPa)
b)
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

15.5 m 24.5 m 24.5 m 15.5 m

MAX
(14 MPa)
MAX
(17 MPa)

a) b)
Fig. 14. Change in the location of maximum local direct stresses σy due to static fatigue truck loading before (a) and after (b) mid-span location (units: MPa).

Fig. 15. Hot-spot stress definition: (a) and (b) extrapolation points used to obtain the hot-spot stress at the weld; (b) principal stress directions at element centers.

55
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

40 3.5
3D FEM
35 1
3.0 2D beam
x
30
y 2.5
Stress (MPa)

25

Dcalc (×10-3)
HS1: x or 1 2.0
20 HS2: y
15 1.5

10 1.0
5 0.5
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 0.0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Distance from weld toe (mm)
Time (years)
Fig. 16. Hot-spot stresses computed for static loading considering the assumed
fatigue vehicle at the midspan. Fig. 18. Accumulated fatigue damage comparison between the nominal stress
methods for the 3D FE bridge global model and the beam-like 2D model.

Excellent road-roughness (RRC = 2 cm3)

8 Table 6
7 3D FEM Adopted vehicles speed distribution per year [7].
Nominal stress (MPa)

6 2D BEAM Speed 10 m/s 20 m/s 30 m/s 40 m/s 50 m/s 60 m/s

5
4 Distribution 29.57% 48.42% 20.12% 1.83% 0.03% 0.03%
3
2
1 vehicle-bridge 2D model solved with a full-integration method can be
0 diminished.
-1
-2 7.2. Fatigue damage sensitivity to the number of vibration modes
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
Time (s) Since a structure comprises several vibration modes, however some
a) of them could have a negligible or even a null contribution to the in-
Poor road-roughness (RRC = 8 cm3) vestigated dynamic load effect. Thus, usually one must perform a sen-
10 sitivity analysis concerning the number of vibration modes used in the
analysis in order to optimize the numerical computation. Herein the
8 3D FEM
Nominal stress (MPa)

best parameter to evaluate through this sensitivity analysis is the fa-

2D BEAM
6 tigue damage, since it comprises individually the contribution of all
4
stress ranges from a single traffic event. Fig. 19a shows the fatigue
damage in the longitudinal weld in a logarithm scale due to an in-
2 dividual crossing of the fatigue truck at different speeds and poor road-
0 roughness condition considering the fatigue strength class FAT100. It
can be concluded that a convergent response was achieved between 50
-2
and 60 Hz. Consequently, the frequency limit, which needs to be con-
-4 sidered in an analysis, is 60 Hz, that is equivalent to a total of 361 vi-
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20
bration modes.
Time (s) On the contrary, Fig. 19b shows a comparison between the same
b) sensitivity analysis for the fatigue damage in the transverse weld and in
the longitudinal weld, with an envelope of maximum and minimum
Poor road-roughness (RRC = 32 cm3)
12 damages indexes for different vehicle speeds. It can be observed a
10 higher contribution to the out-of-plane bending stresses σy and hence to
3D FEM
Nominal stress (MPa)

8 the fatigue damage in the longitudinal weld given by the 12th local
2D BEAM
6 vibration mode, presented in Fig. 20a. It consists of a local transverse
4
bending mode of the concrete deck and the corresponding in-phase
2
local bending of the related steel web panel. It seems clear that the
0
vehicle acting on the slow lane can transfer high mechanical vibration
-2
energy mainly through this vibration mode, which leads to an ampli-
fication of the stresses in the steel web panel with maximum modal
-4
displacements (Fig. 20b). Finally, since this mode contribution is higher
-6
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 than the global bending modes contributions, the highest damage is
Time (s) expected to occur in the longitudinal weld seam due to normal stresses,
σy .
c)
Fig. 17. A comparison of nominal stress time-histories between the 3D FE 7.3. Stress time-histories for the fatigue prone detail
model and the beam-like 2D model for different road-roughness conditions.
After the selection of all relevant vibration modes, dynamic analyses
were performed covering all the design lifespan period of the bridge
(100 years), considering different speeds and different road-roughness

56
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

a)

Higher contribution of
first vibration mode
(f01=2.97Hz) on in-plane
bending stresses.

Higher contribution of vibration modes

f10=19.6 Hz and f12=21.4 Hz on out-of-
plane bending stresses.

b)
Fig. 19. Fatigue damage due to one passage of the fatigue truck at different speeds and poor road-roughness conditions for: (a) out-of-plane bending stresses (σy) and
(b) in-plane bending stresses (σx) vs. out-of-plane bending stresses (σy).

levels of degradation. A time increment of 0.005 s and a time interval of
2 s in free vibration was adopted for the dynamic analyses. At first, in
order to measure the severity of the computed stress signals at different
periods of time, the equivalent stress range, defined as the constant
stress amplitude equivalent to a variable stress history for the same
number of applied cycles [20], was computed for the most re-
presentative signals. Thus, concerning the out-of-plane hot-spot stresses
obtained at the longitudinal weld (σyHS) due to one fatigue truck
crossing, computed results have shown that after a 10-years period the
equivalent stress range Δσye increased more than twice, from 7.33 MPa
to 16.70 MPa (see Fig. 21b). This leads to a severe magnification of the
individual damage due to one fatigue truck crossing, by the order of 14-
fold, which highlights the importance of consider a progressive dete-
rioration model for the pavement in this kind of analysis.
A comparison between different hot-spot stress components and
stress definitions methods was also performed. Fig. 22 shows different
stress components analyzed, i.e. σx and σ1 at the transverse weld (HS1)
and σxy at the weld corners, which is the region of maximum shear
stresses (Fig. 12c). On the other hand, Fig. 23 shows a comparison
between the different stress definition methods, e.g. the nominal stress
methods obtained from both the 3D FE model and the beam-like 2D
model, and the principal hot-spot stresses (σ1) obtained at the trans-
verse weld of the 3D FE solid sub model (Fig. 15). The obtained nu-
merical signal for the hot-spot stress method have been submitted to a
low pass filter for a better representation in comparison to the nominal
stress definitions, with the filtered signal represented in red and ori-
ginal signal represented in grey. In all cases two road-roughness con-
ditions are compared: (i) in the 1st year, when an excellent road-
roughness quality level is expected, and (ii) after 10-years of intense
use, when the degradation of the pavement already contributed to an
increase of undesirable dynamic effects.
Computed equivalent hot-spot shear stress ranges after a 10-years
period was equal to 2.46 MPa (Fig. 22), hence less than 15% of the
maximum computed equivalent normal stress range
(16.70 × 15% = 2.51 MPa). This means that a multiaxial fatigue as-
sessment based on normal stresses and shear stresses do not need to be
performed for the investigated fatigue prone detail [20], since low
shear stresses were usually found. In respect of the transverse weld, the

Fig. 20. 12th vibration mode (f12 = 21.36 Hz): (a) transverse local bending of the concrete deck; (b) local bending of the web panel adjacent to the stiffener detail.

57
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

Fig. 21. (a) Hot-spot stress σy over time for v = 10 m/s and (b) Rainflow cycle counting for one fatigue truck crossing for the initial road-roughness level and after a
10-years period.

use of σx or σ1 would not lead to significant differences in terms of
fatigue damage, as can be inferred from Fig. 22. Concerning the stress
definitions methods, despite a less damped signal for the beam-like 2D
model in general a good agreement was usually found between both
nominal stress methods (3D finite element model vs. beam-like 2D
model), which is also a good indication of the accuracy of the computed
vehicle load distribution factors for highway girder bridges according to
AASHTO LRFD Bridge Design Specifications [21]. It can be observed
that the 3D finite element model is much more damped in terms of
computed stresses, mainly due to the simple element definition adopted
for the beam-like 2D model, which uses only Bernoulli beams and have
only planar beam vibration modes. On the contrary, the 3D bridge finite
element model has much more parts that can contribute to dissipation
of the vibration and can be less susceptible to dynamic effects than the
beam-like 2D model. Higher local stresses were obtained in relation
with nominal stresses as expected since it also has a higher FAT class
(FAT100) than the nominal approaches (FAT80), and of course the fi-
nite element size used is much refined. Therefore, an accurate com-
parison between the three stress definition methods can be only per-
formed in terms of estimated fatigue life, as presented in the next
section.
7.4. Fatigue life estimation
Fatigue life estimations based on Palmgren-Miner’s rule were per-
formed for both points, the transverse weld end location (HS1) and the
longitudinal weld middle location (HS2), considering the three different
stress definition methods based on the developed numerical models, the
global and local 3D finite element models and the beam-like 2D model.
The influence of the traffic growth in the estimated life was also con-
sidered, through the adoption of three traffic growth rates α, 0%, 3%
and 5%. The original Miner's rule assumes that the design life is con-
sumed when the cumulative damage DL = 1. However, according to
Niemi et al. [37] many tests have shown that failure may occur at a
computed damage of DL = 0.5. Therefore, in this work a value of
DL = 0.5 is adopted for safety purposes. Moreover, for a safe life as-
sessment with high consequences of failure, Eurocode 3 [17] re-
commends that the fatigue strength reduction factor, γMf, should be
taken as 1.35. For the sake of higher conservatism, the cut-off limit ΔσL
was not considered, being adopted a modified SN curve with a unique
slope (m = 3). The fatigue damage is then computed for the entire
bridge design lifespan period (100-years), considering surface renova-
tions of the pavement being executed over time. Table 7 and
Figs. 24–26 show the obtained fatigue lives in years and the fatigue
damage evolution, respectively, for different stress definitions and for
both analyzed hot-spot points. In these graphs, the points indicate the
total accumulated fatigue damage (Dcalc) for each year since the bridge
traffic opening, while the lines are regular data fit functions, being used
a linear fit for a traffic increase rate of 0% and an exponential fit for
increase rates of 3% and 5%.
The adopted criteria to define when a surface renovation is required
is whether the RRC exceeds 32 cm3, which is classified as a “poor”
pavement. When a surface renovation is executed, one considers that
the road-roughness becomes equal to as when the road was released to
traffic, that is RRC = 2 cm3, which is classified as an “excellent” pa-
vement. The highest damages are obtained in the last years of each

40 50
35
Hot-spot: σ1 Hot-spot: σ1
Hot-spot: σx 40 Hot-spot: σx
30
Hot-spot: σxy Hot-spot: σxy
25
Stress (MPa)

30
Stress (MPa)

20
20
15
10 10
5
0
0
-5 -10
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (s) Time (s)
a) b)
Fig. 22. Different hot-spot stress time-histories for v = 10 m/s considering different stress definitions for initial road-roughness level (a) and poor road roughness
level (after 10-year) (b).

58
G. Alencar et al. Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61

Table 7
Fatigue life estimation in years considering different stress definitions (γMf = 1.35).
Stress definition method Fatigue strength class (FAT) Traffic increase

α = 0% α = 3% α = 5%

Beam-like 2D model 80 »100 61 47

3D finite element model 80 »100 88 60
σ1 hot-spot stress (Transverse weld) 100 106 38 34
σy hot-spot stress (Longitudinal weld) 100 41 20 19

40 50
35 2D beam 3D FEM
3D FEM 40 2D beam
30
Hot-spot: σ1 Hot-spot: σ1
25 30
Stress (MPa)

Stress (MPa)
20
20
15
10 10
5
0
0
-5 -10
0 1 2 3 4 5 0 1 2 3 4 5
Time (s) Time (s)
a) b)
Fig. 23. Comparison of nominal stresses versus hot-spot stresses for v = 10 m/s for initial road-roughness level (a) and poor road roughness level (after 10-year) (b).

Fig. 24. Accumulated damage considering different stress definitions (α = 0%). Fig. 25. Accumulated damage considering different stress definitions (α = 3%).

period of 10 years, mainly between the 9th and the 10th year, for which
the surface renovation is not performed until the beginning of the 11th
year. For this reason, the graphs of Figs. 24–26 present almost a linear
damage growth between the 1st and the 8th year and big leaps between
the 8th and the 11th year with an exponential growth of the fatigue
damage within this period. The reason is that in the first stage (1st –
8th) the pavement quality is between excellent-average, and during the
period between 9th – 10th years the pavement quality is between
average-poor (see Fig. 11). This leap effect repeats for every period of
10 years for a traffic increase rate of α = 0%. However, it is highlighted
that, although the pavement is considered totally renewed after each
pavement restoration, the number of trucks and hence the (CESAL)t
increase every year for traffic increase rates of α = 3% or 5%. The re-
sult of that is that the initial required renovation surface period will
decrease (10-years) over time. Moreover, the decrease in the required
renovation surface period and the leap effect observed in the fatigue
damage evolution is the reason because there is almost no difference for
the estimated lives between traffic increases rates of 3% and 5%, when
considering the highest local stresses for dynamic loading, i.e. the σy
hot-spot stresses at the longitudinal weld of the investigated detail
(Table 7).
Life estimations have shown that the approaches based on the
nominal stress method yields to very non-conservative results. For null
traffic increase, the fatigue lives based on nominal stress leads to in-
finite fatigue life (much higher than 100 years), as shown in Fig. 24. In
general, when compared to the 3D finite element model, the beam-like
2D model yields to less conservative results, mainly due to less damped
response of the simplified model. The less damped response clearly
leads to more stress cycles in the free vibration phase, contributing
more to the damage.
For the worst case presented in Table 7, i.e. the σy hot-spot stress
component and a traffic increase rate of α = 5%, a less conservative

59
G. Alencar et al.
Fig. 26. Accumulated damage considering different stress definitions (α = 5%).
fatigue life estimation was made, considering a cut-off limit equal to
40 MPa (ΔσL = 0.404 × 100 = 40 MPa) and γMf = 1.0. Under these
conditions, the obtained fatigue life was 35 years, when the number of
trucks reached 275,800 per year per slow lane. This life can be seen as a
measure of the estimated fatigue life of the roadway bridge since its
opening without any safety factor. If one considers the fatigue damage
limited to 1.0, this fatigue life increases to 41 years, when the number
of trucks reached 369,600 per year per slow lane, which can be con-
sidered a heavy traffic condition.
8. Conclusions
In this study, a fatigue assessment is carried out for a fatigue detail of
a composite steel-concrete roadway girder bridge by utilizing two con-
ventional methods according to the EN 1993-1-9 [17] and the IIW re-
commendation [20] caused by vehicle passages at varied vehicle speeds
under various road conditions. The effects of long-term asphalt pavement
deterioration and various vehicle parameters, such as vehicle speeds and
types, can be included in the developed numerical methodology. A nu-
merical simulation toward solving a coupled vehicle-bridge system in-
cluding a suspension-vehicle model and a 3D dynamic bridge model is
used to obtain the stress time-histories due to dynamic loading. The
calculated fatigue lives from the three different approaches, namely
using the beam-like 2D model for nominal stresses and the 3D finite
element model for both nominal and hot-spot stresses are compared with
each other to acquire a reasonable fatigue-life estimation.
Since the estimated fatigue life is affected by the accuracy of the
numerical model including modeling options near the fatigue detail,
three types of numerical models are utilized for the computation of
fatigue truck-induced stress ranges at the fatigue detail. The simplified
global beam-like model is developed for the determination of section
bending moments at the region of the fatigue detail, and a refined local
finite element model is also utilized for the evaluation of local stress for
the fatigue assessment. A third approach based on the global stresses
obtained in the shell elements for the global 3D bridge element is also
considered. From this study, the following conclusions are drawn:
• Static analyses have shown that the extrapolated stress to the
transverse weld are always higher than the extrapolated stress to the
longitudinal weld. Based only on the above static analyses results,
one probably could consider HS1 at transverse welds as the most
critical location. However, dynamic analyses have shown that HS2
at longitudinal weld is much more prone to dynamic effects and
hence to fatigue issues. The reason is mainly due to a higher am-
plification effect due to local vibration modes for the examined
structural detail;
60
Engineering Structures 166 (2018) 46–61
• The nominal stress approach yields to very non-conservative results
for both the beam-like 2D model and the 3D finite element model.
For the hot-spot stress, the longitudinal weld, which is much more
prone to dynamic effects, revealed to be most prone to fatigue da-
mage than the transverse weld, which is the crack initiation point
for the nominal stress approach when the FAT80 structural detail
fatigue strength is considered. Therefore, a fatigue crack is much
more likely to initiate in the middle of the longitudinal weld sub-
jected to distortion-induced stresses (σy) instead of the point ana-
lyzed in the transverse weld subjected to longitudinal stresses due to
global bending of the girder bridge (σx or σ1). A small weld defect
with dimensions of the order of 1 mm and with a crack-like shape at
this position could be a point subjected to fatigue crack initiation
and high stress concentration due to vehicles dynamic loads;
• The nominal stress method applied for both numerical models
clearly could not determine the fatigue life for out-of-plane stresses,
such as that demonstrated to exist in the present case study, which
can be a serious limitation for global approaches used in the design
phase. In this situation, the more non-conservative results are ap-
proached by the 3D finite element model using nominal stresses in
the shell elements of the web girder near the examined detail. This
could be against sense, since a great time and efforts can be con-
sumed developing a complex 3D numerical model to obtain very
over-estimate fatigue lives, which is against the structural safety. In
this case, the hot-spot stress method could lead to more realistic
results of welded bridges, since it captures the stress concentration
due to the overall geometry of the welded details.
Some challenges remain for further studies: (a) the consideration of
more complex vehicle numerical models with more axles and car-
bodies, accompanied by the implementation of an integrated 3D cou-
pled dynamic system of the vehicles and the bridge; (b) the computa-
tion of a reliability index using a fatigue limit state function based on
SN curves obtained for hot-spot stresses for the local detail and con-
sidering the randomness of all variables (vehicle speeds, vehicle types,
etc); (c) the consideration of different road-roughness profiles for the
pavement in the transverse direction; d) the change in the position of
the transverse stiffener end, in order to respect the good design practice
of keeping it in the maximum of 60 mm or 4 times the web thickness,
the lesser of the two, above the bottom flange girder [38], and hence
the impact on the expected fatigue life of this structural detail. These
shortcomings will be studied in a future work.
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this
research work provided by the Brazilian Science Foundation’s CNPq
(doctoral scholarship process 203662/2014-8), CAPES and FAPERJ.
Authors acknowledge the Portuguese Foundation for Science and
Technology for the funding, particularly through the Project POCI-01-
0145-FEDER-007457 - CONSTRUCT - Institute of R&D in Structures and
Construction funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 -
Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalização (POCI).
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