ABSTRACT
In large Civil Engineering structures, such as bridges, the fatigue damage assessment is highly conditioned by the computational demands of global and detailed local models required to properly analyse the structural behaviour under cyclic loads. The dynamic analysis using direct time-integration algorithms is unfeasible in most of the cases, which leads to the necessity of considering the modal superposition concepts for such applications in order to increase the efficiency and accuracy of investigations concerning the fatigue crack propagation problem. In this regard, Albuquerque et al. (2012; 2015) proposed and implemented a computational algorithm aiming at predicting the remaining fatigue life of cracked details. Although, despite its computational efficiency, additional and relevant improvements may be proposed in order to allow precise and detailed fatigue analyses compatible with the pace of design, maintenance and strengthening operations of new or existing aged bridges.
