Improved Detailing in Steel Bridges to Prevent Constraint-Induced Fracture

Bennett, Caroline; Collins, William N; Cobos, Jaswant

i

Improved Detailing in Steel Bridges to Prevent Constraint-Induced Fracture

2025-12-19
By Bennett, Caroline ; Collins, William N ; Cobos, Jaswant

File Language:

English

Select the Download button to view the document

Please click the download button to view the document.

Details

Creators:

Bennett, Caroline ; Collins, William N ; Cobos, Jaswant
Corporate Creators:

University of Kansas. Center for Research
Corporate Contributors:

United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Bridges and Structures
Subject/TRT Terms:

Failure Fracture Mechanics Steel Bridges
Publication/ Report Number:

SM Report No. 169
Resource Type:

Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:

United States
Edition:

Final Report, September 2021 – December 2025
Corporate Publisher:

University of Kansas. Center for Research
Abstract:

This report describes an investigation focused on characterizing the phenomenon of constraint-induced fracture (CIF) in steel bridges, specifically considering three classes of details which prior research has not adequately addressed: thick bearing stiffeners, connection plates, and orthogonal stiffeners with varying constraint-relief gap dimensions. The research approach taken in the study included a suite of nonlinear parametric finite element models. To close knowledge gaps regarding the risk of CIF at in existing bridges and new designs, the influence of the following variables were considered: web thicknesses, gap dimensions, stiffener thickness, and in some cases, out-of-plane loading. A series of analyses were conducted to assess CIF susceptibility of the following details: a discontinuous stiffener interrupted by an orthogonal continuous stiffener, and a connection plate continuously welded into the flange/web junction. The modeling effort focused on computation of triaxiality factors to quantify the level of constraint at the details studied, and to compare across the modeling suite.
Format:

PDF
Funding:

693JJ321C000026
Collection(s):

US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:fc33892964a23cc0da6fbdf9b8ce53b3e52ba8bab612c6200b5bfbe74f3784e2d74c4723783bf6dc71363e7ec04dc9d7b0e72a5181ecc8854c961eead768f302
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/88257/dot_88257_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 17.01 MB ]

File Language:

English

ON THIS PAGE

Details

ROSA P serves as an archival repository of USDOT-published products including scientific findings, journal articles, guidelines, recommendations, or other information authored or co-authored by USDOT or funded partners. As a repository, ROSA P retains documents in their original published format to ensure public access to scientific information.