The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges

Fatigue is one of the main sources of mechanical failure in steel bridges. However, a few studies have investigated the relationship between the longitudinal shape of bridge girders and long-term fatigue effects. This paper shows how different girder profiles affect the probability of fatigue damage...

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Main Authors: Graziano Fiorillo, Navid Manouchehri
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-04-01
Series:Infrastructures
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/10/4/92
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author Graziano Fiorillo
Navid Manouchehri
author_facet Graziano Fiorillo
Navid Manouchehri
author_sort Graziano Fiorillo
collection DOAJ
description Fatigue is one of the main sources of mechanical failure in steel bridges. However, a few studies have investigated the relationship between the longitudinal shape of bridge girders and long-term fatigue effects. This paper shows how different girder profiles affect the probability of fatigue damage occurring in continuous I-multigirder steel bridges. The analysis was conducted using realistic traffic scenarios defined through truck data collected in USA and Canada. Monte Carlo simulations with 5000 realizations were performed on several continuous bridge configurations with different span lengths and different girder profiles. The results of the analysis showed that the probability of fatigue damage is affected by profile shape and the smoothness of the transition between the maximum and minimum height of the cross section. In particular, the probability of fatigue damage on continuous I-multigirder steel bridges can be reduced by up to 26% for typical fatigue construction details over a bridge service life of 75 years by modifying the geometry of the girders during the design phase of the bridge.
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spelling doaj-art-23c4c807587043d2b4b9a091fc3d821e2025-08-20T03:13:32ZengMDPI AGInfrastructures2412-38112025-04-011049210.3390/infrastructures10040092The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel BridgesGraziano Fiorillo0Navid Manouchehri1Price Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba, 15 Gillson Street, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, CanadaPrice Faculty of Engineering, University of Manitoba, 15 Gillson Street, Winnipeg, MB R3T 5V6, CanadaFatigue is one of the main sources of mechanical failure in steel bridges. However, a few studies have investigated the relationship between the longitudinal shape of bridge girders and long-term fatigue effects. This paper shows how different girder profiles affect the probability of fatigue damage occurring in continuous I-multigirder steel bridges. The analysis was conducted using realistic traffic scenarios defined through truck data collected in USA and Canada. Monte Carlo simulations with 5000 realizations were performed on several continuous bridge configurations with different span lengths and different girder profiles. The results of the analysis showed that the probability of fatigue damage is affected by profile shape and the smoothness of the transition between the maximum and minimum height of the cross section. In particular, the probability of fatigue damage on continuous I-multigirder steel bridges can be reduced by up to 26% for typical fatigue construction details over a bridge service life of 75 years by modifying the geometry of the girders during the design phase of the bridge.https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/10/4/92steel bridgescyclic loadingfatigue damageweigh-in-motionMonte Carlo simulationreliability analysis
spellingShingle Graziano Fiorillo
Navid Manouchehri
The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges
Infrastructures
steel bridges
cyclic loading
fatigue damage
weigh-in-motion
Monte Carlo simulation
reliability analysis
title The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges
title_full The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges
title_fullStr The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges
title_short The Effect of Girder Profiles on the Probability of Fatigue Damage in Continuous I-Multigirder Steel Bridges
title_sort effect of girder profiles on the probability of fatigue damage in continuous i multigirder steel bridges
topic steel bridges
cyclic loading
fatigue damage
weigh-in-motion
Monte Carlo simulation
reliability analysis
url https://www.mdpi.com/2412-3811/10/4/92
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