Fatigue strength assessment of riveted details in railway metallic bridges

There are many old riveted bridges constructed 100-150 years ago around the world. In Portugal, it is counted that about 100 riveted bridges, which were built based on traffic intensity and vehicle weight, are no longer suitable nowadays. However, mainly due to economic reasons, those riveted bridges are still in service. Thus, the remaining performance is suggested to be accurately evaluated to determine possible repairs. However, the fatigue performance investigation of such riveted joints in old bridges is relatively limited. Then, fatigue assessment concerning the riveted joint is not contemplated in the current standard as EC3. This paper presents an experimental campaign of riveted joints. Three types of riveted connections are conducted to obtain the fatigue behaviour. Then experimental results, and its design curves obtained based on the ASTM E739 standard, are compared to S-N design curves, suggested for riveted connection. The fatigue strength predicted from class 71 in EC3 is lower than it obtained from test results.

Automated summary

Limited research has been conducted on the fatigue performance of riveted joints in old bridges, with the current standard EC3 not contemplating fatigue assessment concerning these joints. Experimental results show that the fatigue strength predicted by class 71 in EC3 is lower than that obtained from test results, indicating a need for adjustment based on actual testing.