Advanced Methods for Fatigue Analysis of Bridges

This course will provide an overview of advanced methods for fatigue Analysis of metallic bridges. The day will begin with a look at Fracture mechanics analysis of fatigue cracks, within the scope of bridge management decision-making. Following this advanced finite element analysis for fatigue design and assessment will be discussed before finishing the day by covering probabilistic methods for fatigue analysis.

Schedule

Fracture mechanics analysis of fatigue cracks.

The theory behind the application of fracture mechanics for the analysis of fatigue crack propagation under cyclic loading will be presented. This will be discussed within the scope of bridge management decision-making. An example of the application of fracture mechanics for maintenance planning will be carried out.

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Advanced finite element analysis for fatigue design and assessment.

The utilisation of advanced finite element analysis for the purposes of analysing bridge details for fatigue will be described and recommendations for finite element modelling will be provided. The principles of the application of the hot-spot (HS) method and the theory of critical distances (TCD) in stress concentrations of bridge details will be presented. Examples will be given for welded and riveted connections.

Probabilistic methods for fatigue analysis.

The sources of uncertainty in the fatigue assessment of metallic bridges will be highlighted. Probabilistic models will be introduced, covering the loading as well as the resistance side of the fatigue problem; modelling uncertainties will also be discussed. The development of a probabilistic framework for the estimation of the probability of fatigue failure will be demonstrated and examples of its application will be shown through bridge case studies.

Finish

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About the Lecturer

​Dr Boulent Imam is a Senior Lecturer in Civil Engineering Structures at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the University of Surrey and Programme Director for the MSc Programme in Bridge Engineering. He has been extensively involved in the area of fatigue of bridges, carrying out research in this area collaborating with national and European infrastructure owners and managers, such as Network Rail, Highways England, TWI. His research has contributed towards in-depth understanding of the fatigue behaviour of riveted railway bridges and developed methods for more reliable quantification of their remaining fatigue life taking into account historical rail traffic, novel fatigue assessment methods, loading, resistance and modelling uncertainties as well as system effects. Later on, Dr imam extended his work on fatigue towards developing fracture mechanics guidelines for the assessment of fatigue crack growth in steel bridge details towards the optimisation of inspection and maintenance planning in steel bridges. Recently, Dr Imam research has expanded towards understanding the potential impacts of climate change on bridge deterioration and quantifying the resilience of bridge infrastructure against extreme events.