Dynamic Property Analysis of Orthotropic Bridge Deck with Local Fatigue Crack

With the increase in traffic volume and overweight vehicles, fatigue problems are highlighted. Especially for the orthotropic steel deck, the premature cracks seriously affect the service performance, operation, and service quality of the bridge. In this paper, the steel box-girder segment model and deck substructure model considering several typical fatigue cracks were established to reveal the variation law of fatigue cracks on vibration frequency and deflection under vehicle traveling load. A natural frequency analysis was performed to evaluate the change in the vibration characteristics due to localized damage, together with a dynamic analysis that considered a vehicle traveling on the bridge. The results show that the initiation and propagation of several typical cracks have little influence on the lower modes of the overall structure and great influence on the high-order modes of the substructure. The dynamic deflection response of the bridge changed under vehicle load as damage progressed. Therefore, it was possible to identify cracks of the orthotropic steel bridge deck and to provide guidance for fatigue crack detection and repair.

Automated summary

This paper investigates the variation law of fatigue cracks on the vibration frequency and deflection of orthotropic steel bridge decks. The study establishes a steel box-girder segment model and a deck substructure model considering various typical fatigue cracks. Results show that the initiation and propagation of these cracks have little influence on the lower modes of the overall structure but significant influence on the high-order modes of the substructure. Additionally, the dynamic deflection response of the bridge changes as the damage progresses under vehicle load.