Reliability-based fatigue failure analysis for causes assessment of a collapsed steel truss bridge

• Published in: Engineering failure analysis 2001-08, Vol.8 (4), p.311-324
• Main Authors: Cho, Hyo-Nam, Lim, Jong-Kwon, Choi, Hyun-Ho
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bridge failures; Fatigue failure; Reliability analysis; Structural failures; Weld fatigue
• ISSN: 1350-6307; 1873-1961
• DOI: 10.1016/S1350-6307(00)00020-0

This paper is intended to demonstrate conventional and reliability-based approaches to the collapse cause assessment in order to identify the effects of mis-installed bracket and H-beam members on the collapse of a steel truss bridge over the Han river in Korea only 15 years after opening to traffic. Based on extensive numerical investigations with parametric studies on various possible failure causes in terms of failure probability and expected fatigue life, it has been found that the mis-installation of bracket and H-beam members accelerated the fatigue failure of the vertical pin-connected hanger. Moreover, it may be observed that both the conventional and reliability-based S-N and linear elastic fracture mechanisms (LEFM) approaches in terms of the expected fatigue life and the fatigue failure probability provide about similar and compatible results. This indicates that any of the reliability approaches could be used as effective and rational techniques for the quantitative investigation of the complex collapse causes, together with the aids of conventional S-N/LEFM fatigue analysis.