Fatigue assessment and stress analysis of cope-hole details in welded joints of steel truss bridge

摘要

Specimens testing and finite element analysis were conducted to investigate the fatigue performance of cope-hole details in welded integral joints of a steel truss bridge. A recommended nominal stress S-N curve of cope-hole details was obtained based on the evaluation of existing experimental results and comparison of different design specifications. The fatigue strength of the cope-hole details was evaluated via structural hot spot stress approach, which showed that the fatigue strength for the cope-hole details approaches that for FAT80. The effect of load type on local stress distribution was also identified by finite element parametric analysis. A simple equation was then proposed to estimate the stress concentration factor of cope-hole details in the tension member.