Quality Manual for Steel Bridge Fabrication

Details

• Creators:
  Sherman, Ryan J. ; Stewart, Lauren K. ; Phillips, Matthew L.
• Corporate Creators:
  Georgia Institute of Technology
• Corporate Contributors:
  Georgia. Department of Transportation. Office of Performance-Based Management & Research ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Complete Joint Experimental Tests, Fatigue Experiments Fabrication Fatigue Tests Joints Literature Reviews Manuals Material Characterization Materials Penetration (CJP) Joint Repairing Repair Weld Steel Bridges Testing Welding Welding Nonconformance

  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA-26-2220
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final Report: Nov 2022 – Mar 2026
• Corporate Publisher:
  Georgia. Department of Transportation. Office of Performance-Based Management & Research
• Abstract:
  The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) and the American Welding Society (AWS) provide extensive guidance documents that govern the welding of steel bridge members; however, none of the documents provide guidance regarding the number of times a welding nonconformance can be repaired without penalty or rejection, leading to uncertainty in the fabrication industry and potentially costly member rejections. While a few studies have investigated the effects of multiple weld repairs, none have studied the effects of multiple repair welds on members and practices common in the steel bridge industry. As such, there is currently insufficient data to determine whether multiple repair welds affect the material properties or the fatigue life of welded joints on bridge members. The goal of the current study is to investigate the effects of multiple repair welds on complete joint penetration (CJP) butt-splice welds and suggest an appropriate limit to GDOT and the steel bridge industry on the number of repair welds that can be performed at a single location. To accomplish this goal, the current study is comprised of three main research thrusts: (a) gather existing industry data and knowledge on welding nonconformances and repairs through a literature review and survey, (b) generate novel experimental data through a suite of material characterization tests on CJP joints with up to five weld repairs, and (c) generate novel experimental data through large-scale fatigue life tests on CJP butt-splice joints with up to five weld repairs. The results of this research show that up to five weld repairs can be performed at a joint without significant changes to the material properties or fatigue life of the CJP joint. The significance of these findings is that the data suggest:(a) there are no mechanistic or fatigue life indications that a CJP butt splice joint with up to five weld repairs will perform significantly differently than a CJP joint with no repairs, and (b) the repaired joint should still meet all applicable strength and fatigue design requirements.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  0019329
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:29e171bdbd99d8bffbcd77e63f5f51e4e1e75beda606ab98bd81bf1c110415f5f347e4bdc0223ad31c12750bfc447faedfb4c2bc9e71373fba99022a1529acea
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/90725/dot_90725_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 48.20 MB ]