Evaluation of dynamic effects and fatigue assessment of a metallic railway bridge

Abstract In the framework of the national research project 'Evaluation of the structural integrity of metallic railway bridges', the Laboratory of Vibrations and Monitoring of the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, Portugal has recently developed a study concerning the assessment of the dynamic behaviour and fatigue condition of a metallic railway bridge on the international 'Beira Alta' route in Portugal. This paper describes the numerical simulation of the dynamic behaviour of the bridge under railway traffic, the experimental updating and validation of the finite-element model used, and the estimation of the fatigue residual life using different code specifications and the characteristics of real trains crossing over the bridge. Keywords: railway bridgesdynamic analysisfatigue assessment Acknowledgements The authors acknowledge the financial support provided by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) in the context of the Research Project 'Structural Integrity Assessment of Metallic Railway Bridges', and the Basic Funding of CEC/FEUP. All the fruitful cooperation with REFER through Eng. Ana Isabel Silva, Pedro Campos and José Carlos Clemente is also gratefully acknowledged.