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Development of Load Rating Procedures for Deteriorated Steel Beam Ends
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Abstract
This study focuses on the current strength evaluation policies for strength assessment of corroded
steel girders and investigates potential improvements based on real corrosion data. The research
work included in this report has three phases. First, the current deterioration condition of steel
bridges is studied through MassDOT inspection reports of bridges with beam end corrosion. The
topology and the extent of the phenomenon are recorded from the reports and the gathered data
are processed to define the most common corrosion patterns. Second, full scale experimental
testing of naturally corroded girders is performed. The beams are obtained from bridge
demolition projects across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and tested in the Brack lab at
UMass Amherst. Based on the experimental test results, a numerical finite element model is
appropriately calibrated to predict the failure load of corroded beam ends. Finally, combining the
new corrosion patterns identified during the first part of the work with finite element modeling,
an extensive parametric analysis is performed. Based on the numerical outcome, the current
procedures are evaluated and improvements are proposed through a new set of equations. The
report includes many important findings regarding the behavior of corroded beam ends and
discusses the limitations of this study and potential future research work.
Type
Masters Project
Date
2019-09