ABSTRACT
Fatigue cracks in web gaps of steel girder bridges have serious effect on the fatigue life of bridges. This study is aimed at evaluating the effectiveness of adhesive and bolting single steel angle reinforcement technique, which means the stiffener is bolted with the steel angle and the flange plate is connected with the steel angle by structural adhesive. Full-scale fatigue tests were carried out to analyze the fatigue performance of weld toe details in the web gap region. Test results show that the stiffness of web gap region increase, and the out-of-plane distortion and the stress of the end of the web-to-stiffener weld toe and the web-to-flange weld toe decrease sharply after reinforcement, and fatigue cracks did not extend. The adhesive and bolting single steel angle reinforcement technique can effectively control distortion-induced fatigue cracking in web gaps of steel girder bridges without disruption to the concrete deck.
