Bridge Fatigue Guidance – A European Research Project

Mohammad Al-Emrani Mattias Nilsson Mladen Lukić

Associate Professor
Chalmers Univ. of Tech.
Göteborg, Sweden
Mohammad.Al-
Emrani@chalmers.se
Mohammad Al-Emrani, born
1967, received his civil
engineering degree, as well as
his doctorate, from Chalmers
Univ. of Technology.
Bridge Engineer
Ramböll Sverige AB
Luleå, Sweden
Mattias.Nilsson@ramboll.se
Mattias Nilsson, born 1970,
received his civil engineering
degree from Luleå Univ. of
Technology. Since graduation
has been working on bridge
design as well as strengthening.
Research Manager
Centre Tech. Industriel de
la Construction Métallique
Saint-Aubin, France
mlukic@cticm.com
Mladen Lukić, born 1962,
received his civil engineering
degree from the Univ. of
Sarajevo and his doctorate from
École des Ponts et Chaussées.

Summary
Actual fatigue design rules not only are becoming outdated for the design, both in terms of the
coverage of design details and applicability to modern structural analysis methods, but have also
never been adapted to address maintenance issues such as inspection and repair. The aim of the
three-year research project described in this paper is to cover as reasonably many gaps identified in
current standards and recommendations as possible that a practising engineer may be faced with
when carrying out fatigue design or assessment using those documents. The achievement of that
aim is expected in five work-packages on which nine partners have been working since July 2008.
The end of the project is scheduled for June 2011, followed by the publication of its findings. That
should provide a comprehensive guidance – an addition to actual fatigue design rules – for the
fatigue design of new and maintenance of old steel bridges.
Keywords: Fatigue, steel, bridges, design, maintenance, multi-axial fatigue, orthotropic decks,
probabilistic fracture mechanics, FE modelling, fatigue tests.

1. Introduction
Fatigue analysis of new and existing steel structures is generally based on the notion of nominal
stress and on standardized S-N curves with corresponding fatigue classes for a number of typical
details. Such an approach is far from being satisfactory because of an ever increasing number of
structural details and loading situations resulting in a limited number of possible cases included in
standards and recommendations. Moreover, in current codes of practice, certain loading situations
may be treated in an unconservative manner. A similar situation is encountered in the field of bridge
maintenance, where traditional fatigue assessment procedures can make it difficult to obtain the
correct condition assessment and the most appropriate maintenance strategy. Fracture-mechanics-
based procedures are often needed in order to address the all-important issue of inspections.
The aim of the “Bridge Fatigue Guidance” (BriFaG) research project – developing a guidance for
steel bridges subjected to fatigue to give extra rules in addition to the existing documents – will be
achieved through research backed-up by tests and numerical simulations, within five workpackages:
• WP 1: State-of-the-art, follow-up and coordination
• WP 2: Fatigue assessment using probabilistic fracture mechanics
• WP 3: Fatigue under complex loading
• WP 4: Advanced structural analysis for fatigue design and assessment using finite element
method
• WP 5: Reviewing and recommendations.
Current state and objectives of each workpackage are described more in detail in the full paper.
2. Fatigue critical details in steel and composite bridges
5 10
Connections between floor beams
and the main load-carrying members
Diaphragms and cross-bracing
connections
Coped and cut-short beam ends
Orthotropic decks
Stringer-to-floor-beam connections
Fatigue cracking from weld defects
Additional stress component in
members with change in section
Secondary vibration-induced
stresses in hangers
Connections of wind bracing
Bridge girders and stringers
at timber tie connections
Flange gusset plates
Cover plates
Others
15 An introductory working step in the project
is the creation of a catalogue of fatigue
critical details in steel and composite
bridges. The catalogue comprises a large
number of fatigue damage cases which have
been reported for various types of bridge
details. The majority of collected damage
cases were found to be of the type caused by
secondary load effects (see figure). In most
cases, unforeseen (or otherwise overlooked)
interaction between different members and
load-carrying systems in the bridge, often
combined with poor detailing, have been the
cause of fatigue cracking. In some cases, a
complex stress state may also exist in some
structural details. Design codes and
evaluation specifications generally provide
very little guidance on the way this kind of
fatigue damage should be accounted for or
prevented. It is the responsibility of the
bridge designer to ensure – through good
detailing – that these secondary effects and
the kind of fatigue damage associated with
them are avoided.

3. Objectives of the research

Reducing life-cycle costs and increasing safety of structures are, in general, the main aims for the
construction sector and these points bring very important added value to this project. To the best of
our knowledge, a comprehensive best practice guide, which encompasses the current state-of-the-art
for fatigue design and assessment of steel and composite bridges, does not exist at present. The
guidance which is to be produced within the BriFaG research project aims to fill-in the lacks in
current knowledge concerning fatigue design and assessment of steel structural details leading to
safer, more durable and more economic bridge structures.

4. Acknowledgments
The project consortium comprises six partners-contractors from five different European countries.
Different partners’ background (academic, scientific and industrial) is very beneficial for the type of
research work planned in the BriFaG project and allows furthermore for an effective exchange of
knowledge and experience. The consortium is composed so as to cover all relevant areas within the
project and to facilitate achieving the project objectives:
• Centre Technique Industriel de la Construction Métallique (CTICM), France;
• Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden;
• Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague;
• Ramböll Sverige AB, Luleå, Sweden;
• RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Steel Construction, Germany;
• The University of Surrey, United Kingdom.
The work within the frame of the project described in this paper is carried out with a financial grant
from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) of the European Community, granted under the
contract Nr. RFSR-CT-2008-00033.
 Bridge Fatigue Guidance – A European Research Project

Mohammad Al-Emrani Mattias Nilsson Mladen Lukić

Associate Professor
Chalmers Univ. of Tech.
Göteborg, Sweden
Mohammad.Al-
Emrani@chalmers.se
Mohammad Al-Emrani, born
1967, received his civil
engineering degree, as well as
his doctorate, from Chalmers
Univ. of Technology.
Bridge Engineer
Ramböll Sverige AB
Luleå, Sweden
Mattias.Nilsson@ramboll.se
Mattias Nilsson, born 1970,
received his civil engineering
degree from Luleå Univ. of
Technology. Since graduation
has been working on bridge
design as well as strengthening.
Research Manager
Centre Tech. Industriel de
la Construction Métallique
Saint-Aubin, France
mlukic@cticm.com
Mladen Lukić, born 1962,
received his civil engineering
degree from the Univ. of
Sarajevo and his doctorate from
École des Ponts et Chaussées.

Summary
Actual fatigue design rules not only are becoming outdated for the design, both in terms of the
coverage of design details and applicability to modern structural analysis methods, but have also
never been adapted to address maintenance issues such as inspection and repair. The aim of the
three-year research project described in this paper is to cover as reasonably many gaps identified in
current standards and recommendations as possible that a practising engineer may be faced with
when carrying out fatigue design or assessment using those documents. The achievement of that
aim is expected in five work-packages on which nine partners have been working since July 2008.
The end of the project is scheduled for June 2011, followed by the publication of its findings. That
should provide a comprehensive guidance – an addition to actual fatigue design rules – for the
fatigue design of new and maintenance of old steel bridges.
Keywords: Fatigue, steel, bridges, design, maintenance, multi-axial fatigue, orthotropic decks,
probabilistic fracture mechanics, FE modelling, fatigue tests.

5. Introduction
Fatigue analysis of new and existing steel structures is generally based on the notion of nominal
stress and on standardized S-N curves with corresponding fatigue classes for a number of typical
details. Such an approach is far from being satisfactory because of an ever increasing number of
structural details and loading situations resulting in a limited number of possible cases included in
standards and recommendations. Moreover, in current codes of practice, certain loading situations
may be treated in an unconservative manner. A similar situation is encountered in the field of bridge
maintenance, where traditional fatigue assessment procedures can make it difficult to obtain the
correct condition assessment and the most appropriate maintenance strategy. Fracture-mechanics-
based procedures are often needed in order to address the all-important issue of inspections.
The aim of the “Bridge Fatigue Guidance” (BriFaG) research project described here is to cover
several of the previously mentioned gaps which a practising engineer may be faced with when
carrying out fatigue design or assessment using current standards and recommendations. At the end
of the project, guidance for steel bridges subjected to fatigue should be developed to give extra rules
in addition to the existing documents. This will be achieved through research backed-up by tests
and numerical simulations, within this project, divided in five workpackages:
• WP 1: State-of-the-art, follow-up and coordination
• WP 2: Fatigue assessment using probabilistic fracture mechanics
• WP 3: Fatigue under complex loading
• WP 4: Advanced structural analysis for fatigue design and assessment using finite element
method
• WP 5: Reviewing and recommendations.
The project consortium comprises six partners-contractors from five different European countries.
Different partners’ background (academic, scientific and industrial) is very beneficial for the type of
research work planned in the project and allows furthermore for an effective exchange of
knowledge and experience. The consortium is composed so as to cover all relevant areas within the
project and to facilitate achieving the project goals:
• Centre Technique Industriel de la Construction Métallique (CTICM), France;
• Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden;
• Institute of Theoretical and Applied Mechanics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Prague;
• Ramböll Sverige AB, Luleå, Sweden;
• RWTH Aachen University, Institute of Steel Construction, Germany;
• The University of Surrey, United Kingdom.

6. Fatigue critical details in steel and composite bridges (WP 1)

5 10
Connections between floor beams
and the main load-carrying members
Diaphragms and cross-bracing
connections
Coped and cut-short beam ends
Orthotropic decks
Stringer-to-floor-beam connections
Fatigue cracking from weld defects
Additional stress component in
members with change in section
Secondary vibration-induced
stresses in hangers
Connections of wind bracing
Bridge girders and stringers
at timber tie connections
Flange gusset plates
Cover plates
Others
Fig. 1. Collected fatigue damage cases according to ensure – through good detailing – that these
type of detail in which they were encountered
The comprehensive study of fatigue-critical details and the mechanisms behind fatigue cracking in
bridge members and connections also forms a background for the work performed in the project.
15 An introductory working step in the project
is the creation of a catalogue of fatigue
critical details in steel and composite
bridges. The catalogue comprises a large
number of fatigue damage cases which have
been reported for various types of bridge
details. In addition to damage cases which
have been reported the literature, relevant
input is collected from industrial partners in
the project as well as from railway owners.
The majority of collected damage cases
were found to be of the type caused by
secondary load effects (Fig. 1). In most
cases, unforeseen (or otherwise overlooked)
interaction between different members and
load-carrying systems in the bridge, often
combined with poor detailing, have been the
cause of fatigue cracking in bridge details.
In some cases, a complex stress state may
also exist in some structural details. Design
codes and evaluation specifications
generally provide very little guidance on the
way this kind of fatigue damage should be
accounted for or prevented. It is the
responsibility of the bridge designer to
secondary effects and the kind of fatigue
damage associated with them are avoided.

7. Fatigue assessment using probabilistic fracture mechanics (WP 2)

The focus is on the development of a probabilistic fracture mechanics-based fatigue methodology,
which will include inspections and their possible outcomes. The aim is to present a framework,
which will allow optimisation of the inspection intervals, while maintaining a specified target
reliability of the fatigue detail. This framework is currently under development and, here, its salient
features are presented, followed by a brief discussion on the action plan of the project.
The basic premise, upon which FM-based fatigue methodologies are based, is integration of the
crack growth equation, which is typically given in terms of a Paris-type equation [1]:

da
= C ΔK m (1)
dN
The latter, where a is the crack size, N is the applied number of cycles, ΔK is the stress intensity
range and C and m are material constants, under constant amplitude loading Sr leads to
af
1 da
Nf = ∫ + N in (2)
ain (Y ( a ) )
S rm C πa
m

Equation (2) yields the number of applied number of cycles Nf required to propagate the crack from
an initial size ain to any size af. Moreover, in Equation (2) Nin is the number of cycles needed to
propagate the crack to a size ain. Although Equation (2) may be applied between any limits ain and af,
in welded details Nin is typically equal to 0 and Equation (2) is applied for a pre-existing flaw size
ain and a flaw size af that leads to unstable fracture. In riveted details, Nin is the number of cycles,
requisite to create a flaw of size ain, which may also be viewed as an initiation period.
Under constant amplitude loading, scatter in the fatigue life Nf arises from the uncertainties
associated with material parameters such as C and m as well as manufacturing parameters such as
ain and Nin. In this project, calibration of the random parameters will be carried out based on code-
specified S-N curves and, where possible, published experimental S-N data pertaining to both
welded and riveted fatigue details.
For the case of time-dependant and hence bridge loading, the failure probability Pf may be stated in
terms of the limit state function g of the random vector X as

P f (t ) = P[ g (X, t ) ≤ 0] (3)

In the case of fatigue crack growth, g takes the form [2]

1 af da
g ( X, t ) = ∫ (
C ain Y (a) πa m
− [ N f (t ) − N i (t )] E[ S rm ]
)
(4)

where E denotes the expectation operating on the loading spectrum.

Fatigue inspection that can be carried out using various methods such as visual, Magnetic Particle
Inspection etc, is highly uncertain and may, in many instances, be randomised via the crack size ad
that can be detected through inspection. The corresponding event margin H may be formulated, in
terms of the known time of inspection tinsp, as
a (tinsp ) da ad da
H (X, t insp ) = ∫ain
Y (a ) πa ( πa)
m
− ∫ain (Y (a) )
m
(5)

Following inspection, the updated fatigue failure probability may be expressed as [3]

( )
P f (t ≥ t insp ) = P[ g (X, t ) ≤ 0 / H (X, t insp ) ≥ 0 ∪ H (X, t insp ) < 0 ] (6)

depending on whether a crack has been detected or not.

Additional inspection outcomes may be formulated in a similar fashion by including further event
margins. Moreover, the event of repair, which is also associated with its own uncertainty, can also
be incorporated through the introduction of similar to (5) event margins [4].
While the type of work described previously has been carried out extensively in the offshore
industry, the same cannot be said about bridge fatigue reliability. Some efforts have addressed
different issues such as the application of more elaborate crack growth models [4] but a robust
methodology, which will furnish bridge owners with the necessary tools to plan future fatigue
inspections, is currently lacking. Furthermore, although limited work on optimisation of inspection
intervals has been carried out in the past, the problem can become rapidly mathematically and
computationally intractable.
The purpose of this Workpackage is to provide guidelines on the application of PFM for inspection
planning. These guidelines will be illustrated through a number of examples, one of which (fatigue
detail plus load spectra) will be related to the Söderström bridge investigated in a different context
in Workpackage 4. Additionally, through the use of the same examples, guidance will be provided
to the bridge owner/assessor, which will enable him/her to realistically form an inspection-repair
strategy that not only satisfies regulatory requirements but also minimises the associated costs.

8. Fatigue under complex loading (WP 3)

The fatigue assessment of steel bridges is regulated in various European standards and
recommendations. Therein, a couple of details and loading situations are not sufficiently covered, so
that bridge engineers are frequently confronted with potentially unsafe conventions or with missing
detail categories. Some recent research results indicate that conventional design models proposed in
codes and standards might give results which are considerably unsafe [5]. Therefore the problem of
fatigue strength of welded details subjected to multi-axial stresses is also treated within the research
project BriFaG. The aim of the work in this Workpackage is to eliminate some of the uncertainties
connected with fatigue design of these details. As orthotropic bridge details are also affected by
multi-axial stresses, these details are also part of the work in WP3. Thereby, special attention is
directed to the increasing heavy load traffic and to strengthening aspects to improve the service life
of existing orthotropic bridges. Furthermore, the fatigue behaviour of connections of vertical
stiffeners to bridge girders or secondary beams will also be investigated.

8.1 Fatigue of orthotropic bridge details

Recent examinations on orthotropic steel bridge decks in Germany have shown cases of fatigue
damage after just 40 to 50 years in service. Cracks in orthotropic decks have been reported in the
Netherlands too, resulting from the heavy traffic, fortified by the Dutch type of construction which
is adopted to reduce weight in numerous movable bridges (rather thin deck plates 10 mm combined
with fillet welds and thin pavement). Furthermore, the development of trucks for higher loadings
and new wide based tyres is strongly promoted by the transport industry so that this progress
increases the fatigue demands on existing and new bridges all over Europe.

8.1.1 Research objectives

Repair work on existing bridges has often been limited to weld replacement, what in many cases
turned out as an expensive measure without achieving the expected results. Hence, new renovation
techniques of orthotropic bridges have been developed and were already successfully applied to
existing bridges [6]. Although, these first pilot projects have shown to improve the fatigue life of
orthotropic steel bridges further research is needed. The asphalt layer of orthotropic decks has not
been yet considered by these available improvement methods. Inferential, one principal task of the
project is to perform theoretical and experimental investigations by integrating the surface layer in
these retrofitting techniques. Finite-element analysis will be used with actual traffic data and with
additional fatigue tests to fulfil these desirable objectives. Moreover, connections of continuous
longitudinal stringers to transversal girders are not included in any valid national or European
standard. Such an orthotropic bridge detail will be analysed carefully to account for its multi-axial
stress state developing in perpendicular planes. A theoretical approach for the fatigue assessment of
details subjected to multi-plane multi-axial loading will be elaborated using advanced multi-axial
procedures and finally to result in a classification into a certain detail category.

8.1.2 Fatigue testing

The experiments on orthotropic deck details are turned to the crack propagation, stress
concentrations and fatigue life. The most vulnerable detail appears in the spatial joint of the deck
with cross girder and longitudinal rib where the stress concentrations appear.
 Therefore, a specimen of type A
(Fig. 2) was designed and tested. It
represents an important cutout of the
deck, where cracks often appear. The
first specimen A1 was subjected to
static forces from 0 to 477 kN (steps
of 20 kN, loading machine GTM
500 kN). The same specimen A1 was
then tested in a high-power load
machine RK MFL PRUFSYSTEME
up to 780 kN (steps of 20 kN).
The next specimen A2 was cycled
from 10 kN to 210 kN (test machine
MTS 250 kN, frequency 3 Hz,
N = 5 527 812 cycles) without any
crack. It was then cycled from 10 kN
to 410 kN (test machine GTM 500 kN,
frequency 2 Hz, N = 1 543 930 cycles).
Fig. 2: The specimen of type A The fatigue crack appeared (Fig. 8).
Further fatigue tests are intended to construct the S-N curve (Wöhler line) with various Δσ values,
with the aim to give to the designers a trustworthy instruction to the design of these bridges.

8.2 Fatigue of connections of vertical stiffeners to bridge girders or secondary beams

When a heavy vehicle is situated in a traffic
lane on the cantilever of a composite bridge
deck, some part of the bending moment will be
transferred to the web stiffeners of the steel
girders. Parts of the welds between the stiffener
and the upper flange of the girder will then be
exposed to large tensile forces. As this is likely
to happen thousands of times each day, it is
possible for fatigue cracks to develop (Fig. 3).
Similar cracks have been observed in other
European countries.
As composite bridges with web stiffeners are a
Fig. 3: Crack in stiffener welded to top flange very common bridge type, used on thousands of
bridges all over the world, the problem should
be investigated more thoroughly by in-situ
measurements, FE-simulations and lab-tests, to
investigate the reasons and background of the
problem and to avoid it on future bridges.
Recommendations on how to design the details
for new existing bridges, as well as suggestions
on how to repair old ones, will follow.
In the summer of 2009, monitoring of a major
highway bridge in Stockholm will be carried
out. A heavy truck, with calibrated weight, will
be placed both on the cantilever and in between
the two main girders. Some of the strain gauges,
which will be applied on cracked as well as un-
cracked web stiffeners, are indicated in Fig. 4.
Furthermore, a workshop – planned to take
place in Stockholm in 2010 – on strengthening
of steel bridges will include this special topic.
Fig. 4: Position of strain gauges
9. Advanced structural analysis for fatigue design and assessment using finite
element method (WP 4)
The use of the finite element method in fatigue design and assessment is increasing widely. The
method provides several advantages at a variety of levels. Basically, an accurate determination of
load effects in different members and connections is vital for fatigue-loaded structures, including
bridges. However, the model needed for fatigue assessment is generally different than the one
employed for design in the ultimate limit state. Accurate estimation of connection stiffness, correct
modelling of different eccentricities, irregularities and interaction effects between different load-
carrying elements and systems in the bridge are all very important to reach an accurate estimation of
the load effects in various members and connections in the bridge.
Furthermore, FE-analysis of bridges and bridge details offers the use of alternative (and in many
cases more accurate) fatigue verification methods. In particular, the hot-spot method as an
alternative to the conventional nominal-stress approach is becoming more attractive. Probabilistic
fracture-mechanic approaches also provide in many cases alternative solutions, particularly for
fatigue assessment of existing bridges.

9.1 Modelling of steel bridges for assessment

A case-study bridge has been selected to demonstrate the application of these two techniques on
bridge structures. The bridge – a seven-span plate girder railway bridge built in the middle of the
1950s in Sweden – has shown fatigue cracking in several details and extensive field measurement
data is available for validation of the FE-analysis. The effects of FE modelling are investigated by
choosing the fourth span (Fig. 5) and carrying out eigenvalue and dynamic analyses under train
loading. The latter type of analysis forms part of the future work of this ongoing project.
80669001115046B1208-01 S@DERSTR@MS BRO SMST KD 030

Fig. 5: The bridge over Söderström in Stockholm

The general purpose FE program ABAQUS is used to perform the eigenvalue analyses and the
selected bridge span is modelled, under different assumed boundary conditions, using exclusively
shell elements. The eigenvalue analyses have yielded the results, which are shown in Table 1 while
Fig. 6 depicts the first two modes of vibration of the selected span. As can be seen in the figure, the
first mode of vibration is vertical, while the second mode is predominantly lateral. This result is not
altogether surprising, given the significant lateral stiffness provided by the cross girders and braces.
Table 1: First and second natural periods of vibration for different boundary conditions
Boundary Conditions Simply Supported Fixed
Mode 1 2 1 2
T (s) 0.182 0.156 0.123 0.086

Fig. 6: First and second modes of vibration

This part of the work has consisted of eigenvalue analyses that were carried out for one of the spans
of the Söderström railway bridge. The results have indicated a sensitivity to the assumed boundary
conditions. For this reason, future work will focus on modelling the entire bridge and comparing the
results of dynamic analyses under train loading with actual measurements of the bridge.

9.2 Design and analysis using hotspot stresses

The use of the hotspot method in fatigue
analysis of bridge details is demonstrated on
the use of this method along with FE-analysis
in the fatigue assessment of details susceptible
to distorsional (deformation-induced) cracking.
This kind of fatigue damage accounts for the
major part of all fatigue damage cases reported
for steel and composite bridges [7], and
usually cannot be evaluated by means of the
conventional nominal stress method. The
detail chosen here – the connection between
cross-beam and main girder – is typical for
many steel bridges and is well known for this
type of fatigue cracking (Fig. 7). This is one of
the details that have shown fatigue cracking in
the case-study bridge. Detailed models of this
connection will be studied and emphasis will
be put on modelling the local area where
fatigue cracking was observed.
Fig. 7. Fatigue cracking at the connections Another application of the hot-spot method is
between main girder and cross-beam of the in orthotropic bridge details. A specific detail
Söderström Bridge tested in Workpackage 3 is chosen for this
purpose (Fig. 8). The detail – a connection
between longitudinal stringer and cross-beam – has displayed several cracking modes, some of
which were in locations of combined shear and normal stresses. Several FE-models with various
meshing techniques, element types and sizes are studied. Different proposed methods to obtain the
hotspot stress are also investigated and compared to each other. The results are then used along with
proposed S-N curves and compared to those obtained from fatigue testing.
Fig. 8: Fatigue cracking in the test specimen investigated and a FE-model for hotspot evaluation

10. Summary and Conclusions (WP 5)

Reducing life-cycle costs and increasing safety of structures are, in general, the main aims for the
construction sector and these points bring very important added value to this project. To the best of
our knowledge, a comprehensive best practice guide, which encompasses the current state-of-the-art
for fatigue design and assessment of steel and composite bridges, does not exist at present. The aim
of the BriFaG research project is thus to develop bridge fatigue guidance for the sustainable design
and assessment of steel bridges subjected to fatigue. The guidance which will be produced within
the described research project aims to fill-in the lacks in current knowledge concerning fatigue
design and analysis of steel bridges leading to safer, more durable and more economic bridge
structures, thus achieving sustainability in their design, construction and maintenance.

11. Acknowledgments
The work within the frame of the project described in this paper is carried out with a financial grant
from the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) of the European Community, granted under the
contract Nr. RFSR-CT-2008-00033.

12. References
[1] PARIS P.C. and ERDOGAN F., “A critical analysis of crack propagation laws”, ASME
Journal of Basic Engineering, Vol. 85, 1963, pp. 528-534.
[2] KIRKEMO F., “Applications of probabilistic fracture mechanics to offshore structures”,
Applied Mechanics Reviews, Vol. 41, No. 2, 1988, pp. 61-84.
[3] CREMONA C., “Reliability updating of welded joints damaged by fatigue”, International
Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 18, No. 8, 1996, pp. 567-575.
[4] RIGHINIOTIS T.D., “Influence of management actions on fatigue reliability of a welded
joint”, International Journal of Fatigue, Vol. 26, 2004, pp. 231-239.
[5] MADDOX S.J., and RAZMJOO G.R., “Interim Fatigue Design Recommendations for Fillet
Welded Joints under Complex Loading.” Fatigue & Fracture of Engineering Materials &
Structures, Vol. 24, No. 5, 2001, pp. 329-337.
[6] SEDLACEK G. et al., Untersuchungen zur nachhaltigen Instandsetzung von orthotropen
Fahrbahnplatten von Stahlbrücken unter Berücksichtigung des Belagsystems, Bergisch
Gladbach, 2009.
[7] AL-EMRANI M., ÅKESSON B., and KLIGER R., “Overlooked Secondary Effect in Open-
Deck Truss Bridges”, Structural Engineering International, Vol. 14, No. 4, 2004, pp. 307-312.