ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: Cracks were found in several floorbeam-to-tie girder connection angles for a tied arch in a biannual inspection. After replacing those damaged angles and frozen stringer bearings, the cracks appeared soon. A series of diagnostic tests were performed in order to identify the crack causes. The objective of the study presented was to develop global and local finite element models and calibrate those models to obtain a baseline model using testing data to find the crack causes.
