Effect of Temperature on the Fatigue Life Assessment of Suspension Bridge Steel Deck Welds under Dynamic Vehicle Loading

The present study proposes a novel fatigue life prediction considering the temperature load, which may be neglected in traditional assessment of suspension bridge steel deck welds under dynamic vehicle load. Vehicle fatigue, pavement temperature, and gradient models are developed based on test data from weight-in-motion system, U-rib welds, environment temperature. U-rib-to-deck U-rib-to-U-rib stresses obtained both loads with transient analysis method ANSYS package. Then, stress spectra calculated. After that, two weld types is predicted coupled vehicle-temperature loads. results indicate that varies linearly asphalt concrete. effect weld’s decreases as distance increases between pavement. load higher than gradient, indicating contributes mainly to bridge’s damage. Finally, it calculated damage magnified 5.06 1.50 times when considered after 100-year service Nanxi Yangtze River Bridge.