This Master’s Thesis presents the assessment of the remaining fatigue life of a steel bridge that is still in use. Firstly, the ultimate limit state is checked. The highest possible speed of a moving train is calculated as well, for which the maximum track load category is taken into consideration. In the first phase, the assessment of the remaining fatigue life is calculated. In the second phase, a more detailed calculation is performed. The assumption is made that each train, which passes over the bridge, creates one stress range. The second phase is upgraded with the use of the Rainflow method, by which the exact number of stress ranges is calculated. Thus, a more precise calculation of the remaining fatigue life can be made.
The content of the Master’s Thesis can be regarded as a study of the effects of input parameters on the final results. It can also be used as a precise guide for further projects in the field of assessment of the remaining fatigue life, as well as in the structural calculation of new steel bridges. If the assessment of the remaining fatigue life is done for several existing bridges, those results can be a powerful tool for planning the frequency and intensity of inspections for bridges in the future.
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