The project deals with the refurbishment of cracks in the connection area of longitudinal troughs made of hollow sections and cross beams of orthotropic steel bridge decks (so called category 2 damages). For the refurbishment, bolted solutions are investigated in order to achieve a more economical and permanent improvement compared to the previous refurbishment techniques by welding. As the closed cross sections prevent the two-sided accessibility of the troughs, refurbishment techniques by using bolted solutions were not possible. To be able to use blind rivets as a suitable connection alternative, their fatigue behavior must be quantified. The developed solutions should include both, the design and construction as well as further steps regarding the refurbishment of the cracked components. Recommendations for static and fatigue-related design and the execution of the developed refurbishment- technique will be derived. The results regarding the fatigue behavior of the blind rivets will also be transferable to other comparable constructional details.
The research goal will be achieved by experimental and theoretical investigations. The experimental investigations include two test-series. First, the previously unknown fatigue behavior of blind rivets, in particular the fatigue strength in terms of S-N-curves, will be investigated by means of numerous fatigue tests on small-sclae test specimens. Fatigue tests on true-scale specimens provide the investigation of the blind rivets under a combined loading and the actual refurbishment- technique is simulated. In addition numerical investigations will be conducted in order to enable a better understanding of the loading conditions in the building and to enable a reasonable evaluation, e.g. in terms of structural stresses. The project benefits small and medium-sized steel construction companies conducting such refurbishments as well as engineering firms planning and supervising these measures, as well as the manufacturers of mechanical fasteners.
Participating Research Centres
Institut für Konstruktion und Entwurf, Universität Stuttgart, Leiterin der Forschungsstelle: Prof. Dr.-Ing. U. Kuhlmann, Projektbearbeiter: M.Sc. Simon Bove
Research Funding
DASt-AiF, BMWi, Schachtbau Nordhausen GmbH, SEH Engineering GmbH, Arconic Fastening Systems and Rings, Lindapter GmbH
Project Number of Predecessor Project
BASt FE 15.0474 / 2009 / CRB
Duration
01.09.2015 – 31.08.2019