Numerical Simulation of Fatigue Crack Propagation in Steel Bridge with Welded Stiffeners Subjected to Out-of-plane Loadings

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to simulate the fatigue crack growth in welded steel bridge subjected to out-ofplane loadings. FRANC3D and ABAQUS are jointly used to calculate the stress intensity factors and predict the fatigue crack growth life. The results shows that the mode I SIFs of crack front of this case increase significantly as the loading increases and they also increase when the crack has bigger initial size. Among the factors which affect the fatigue crack life, the loadings are the most effective one while the size of the initial crack has little influence on the fatigue crack growth life. Keywords—fatigue crack propagation; steel bridges; welded stiffeners; stress intensity fator; FRANC3D