Initial Analytical Investigation of Cantilever and Butterfly Steel Overhead Sign Trusses With Respect to Remaining Fatigue Life [Technical Summary]

Details

• Creators:
  Al Shboul, Khalid W. ; Rasheed, Hayder A.
• Corporate Creators:
  Kansas State University Transportation Center
• Corporate Contributors:
  Kansas. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Materials and Research
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  Cantilevers Cracking Fatigue Strength Inspection Overhead Traffic Signs Sign Supports Structural Supports Traffic Signs Trusses
• Publication/ Report Number:
  K-TRAN: KSU-20-3
• Resource Type:
  Brief
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Indiana
• Edition:
  Technical Summary
• Corporate Publisher:
  Kansas. Department of Transportation. Bureau of Materials and Research
• Abstract:
  Low-cost cantilevered and butterfly sign support structures are commonly used because they more effectively reduce the probability of vehicle collision compared to overhead sign structures. Over time, the span of cantilevered support structures has increased as safety concerns have caused the upright component of the structures to be installed further from the road, see Figure 1.1–1.2. However, because these structures are typically used for multi-lane roads, the structures are increasingly susceptible to large amplitude oscillations from various wind-loading scenarios. Therefore, this study evaluated the remaining fatigue life of cantilevered and butterfly structures to build a comprehensive tool to accurately predict the remaining fatigue life of cantilevered and butterfly highway sign support structures subjected to prolonged and sustained wind fluctuations. The analytical study sought to obtain the following specified objectives:• Develop fatigue analysis procedures to estimate the fatigue life expectancy of cantilevered and butterfly sign structures and evaluate the remaining fatigue life of these structures based on the wind-loading dataset generated above.• Identify and mark the most critical members in the various sign structures for further field investigation concerning fatigue life consumption.• Project the number of years these structures would experience total fatigue damage and guide highway agencies to prioritize their inspection plans.• Develop a computationally affordable simulation package using object-oriented programming language C# to interact with the FE software STAAD Pro to predict fatigue life.
• Format:
  PDF
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:ae5fcb1175a91d00881fb280da26998cf92bb44a513cdff14b5c54fb2aaa01d5e831ea2802c8a6089f649f2ee9416674447aa21e39d603f530e756b22ce5328a
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/91806/dot_91806_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 313.38 KB ]