Damage assessment of steel bridge members by fatigue vulnerability considering corrosion and traffic variation with time

The fatigue vulnerability estimation method including the effects induced by the corrosion rate and the traffic variation with time has been proposed to evaluate the reduction of fatigue strength in steel bridge members. A fatigue limit state function considering corrosion and traffic variation is established to determine whether the steel bridge members have been damaged by both corrosion and fatigue or not. Monte-Carlo simulation is used for reliability analysis which provides the data used to obtain fatigue vulnerability curves. The results show that the damage accumulation induced by fatigue in steel bridges could be assessed by fatigue vulnerability curve considering influences of corrosion and traffic variation.