Multiaxial Fatigue Life Assessment of Integral Concrete Bridge with a Real-Scale and Complicated Geometry Due to the Simultaneous Effects of Temperature Variations and Sea Waves Clash

Author(s)

Hamid Abdollahnia, Mohammad Hadi Alizadeh Elizei and Kazem Reza Kashyzadeh

Abstract

components in the critical area was obtained by performing transient dynamic analysis. Various well-known equivalent stress fatigue theories (von Mises, Findley, Dang Van, McDiarmid,

Carpinteri–Spagnoli, Modified Findley, Modified McDiarmid, and Liu–Zenner) were utilized to calculate the equivalent stress caused by the simultaneous effect of temperature variations and sea waves clash. Eventually, the fatigue life of the structure was predicted by employing the rainflow counting algorithm and the Palmgren–Miner damage accumulation rule.

The results indicated a reduction in the multiaxial fatigue life of the structure under the simultaneous effects of two phenomena, the daily temperature variations and the sea waves clash, of approximately 87% and 66%, respectively, compared with the fatigue life of the structure under either the effect of temperature changes or the effect of sea waves clash, separately.

Therefore, it was necessary to consider all the cyclic loads in the structural design step to estimate the fatigue life of the structure. Moreover, the findings of this case study revealed that the lowest value of multiaxial fatigue lifetime is related to the application of the Liu-Zenner criterion. In other words, this criterion is more conservative than the other used criteria.

Keywords

fatigue life; multiaxial fatigue; nonproportional VAL; integral concrete bridge; temperature variations; sea waves clash