Fatigue Behavior and Analysis of Heavy Duty Riveted Steel Grating

Heavy duty riveted steel grating is commonly used in bridge construction as it is relatively lightweight and is readily installed. One particular design concern is fatigue, which may affect overall durability and service life of the deck. In this particular study, the fatigue behavior focused on the riveted connection between the bearing, intermediate and reticuline bars. Fatigue tests have been conducted on sections of a riveted deck and were compared to more recent results from tests on both open-hole and riveted coupons. While test results from the open-hole coupons were consistent with the behavior of the deck sections, fatigue tests of the riveted coupons exhibited superior performance. Lower bound S–N curves are derived for each condition and compared. A fracture mechanics model is used to examine fatigue cracking around a typical rivet hole.