Member-Level Redundancy of Built-Up Steel Girders Subjected to Flexure

Abstract

and the Army Corps of Engineers. This project benefitted from substantial material and fabrication donations provided by Steel Dynamics Inc., Hirschfeld Industries Bridge Division, Nucor Fastener Division, and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Specific training was provided by Vern Mesler of VJM Metal Craftsman in the art of hot riveting steel built up girders. In addition, we acknowledge the essential contributions from staff professionals and graduate students at Purdue University throughout this research.

Member-Level Redundancy of Built-Up Steel Axially Loaded Members

“….1 Hastings Bridge, Minnesota (Niemann, 1999) ..................................................................... Figure 2.2 Fractured tie girder plate, Hastings Bridge (Niemann, 1999) .............................................. ................................................................................................ 46 Figure 3.29 Load vs. displacement curve for Specimen 6 with severed section at location "B" (near gusset plate, see Figure 3.24) ............................................................................................................. 47 Figure 3.30 Specimen 7 load-displacement curves with severed section at location "A" (mid-panel, see Figure 3.24) ................................................................................................................................... 48 ........................................................................................................................................ 108 Tables Table 3.1 Experimental Specimen Test Matrix ................................................................................... Table 3.2 Material properties for the 1/2-inch redundancy plates (Hebdon et al, 2015) ................. Table 3.3 Fracture test results for CBFR Specimens 1 - 4 ...................................................................…”

“…From the 1840's onward, construction of long-span wrought-iron bridges in the UK continued the advancement of riveted connections and use of built-up member construction (Collette, 2014). The dawn of rolled steel mills in the late 19 th Century and early 20 th Century further progressed the use of built-up construction, making it the most widely used form of building and bridge construction (Collette, 2014;Hebdon, 2015). Hot-driven rivets were predominantly used to fasten multiple components, such as plates and angles, together until the 1950's to 1960's when high strength bolts and welding processes became preferred methods of construction.…”

Maintenance Actions to Address Fatigue Cracking in Steel Bridge Structures: Proposed Guidelines and Commentary

“…For a wrought iron riveted detail, the lower bound fatigue limit is Category E (Fisher et al, 1987). Hebdon (2015) took this a step further by determining the fatigue resistance of riveted built-up full scale girders after a single component (i.e., cover plate or flange angle) was completely failed (either due to fatigue or fracture). An example of these test specimens is shown in Figure 5.28 where it shows the severed cover plate and a fatigue crack propagating out from underneath the rivet head.…”

“…They added that reamed holes seemed to provide better performance than drilled holes. Hebdon (2015) tested 12 full scale beams, some with drilled holes and some with punched holes. He concluded that Category E9 was a reasonable lower bound fatigue resistance for girders with punched holes; this was for girders with a single component already failed.…”

“…Fisher et al (1987) concluded that if cracks develop in a single component, they are likely to be detected before the section can no longer carry load. Hebdon (2015) concluded that fracture of an individual component in a riveted built-up member is highly unlikely due to several factors, including load redistribution into adjacent components, and constraint created by adjacent fasteners. He found that for most traditionally proportioned built-up members, fracture of any component was unlikely.…”