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16.22: Remarks on the material testing of historical railway bridges: Steelworks built from 1873 to 1950
Author(s) -
Hołowaty Janusz,
Wichtowski Bernard
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
ce/papers
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2509-7075
DOI - 10.1002/cepa.479
Subject(s) - weldability , durability , toughness , engineering , service life , structural engineering , forensic engineering , welding , materials science , metallurgy , mechanical engineering , composite material
A decisive role regarding the durability of historical railway bridges is played by degradation processes, which can only be resisted to a limited extent. Since the structural resistance of old bridges decreases naturally, devising design criteria for the assessment of their residual resistance would appear to be unnecessary. In many cases, existing steel bridges which do not obey design code requirements may safely carry current service loads. New methods for the structural capacity assessment of historic bridges have been designed in many countries, which take into account existing loads as well as those expected during the residual working life, along with the material properties of the bridges. The testing of material samples from 21 historic railway bridges allowed information on the mechanical properties of the steel along with the structures’ response to hitherto existing loads to be gathered. The chemical composition, steel static tension, hardness and toughness, and weldability assessment by factors are verified. All the tested bridges were built from early structural steels. In some bridges, early structural steel of higher strength has also been found in steel manufactured in 1875. The results of the old railway bridge steel tests given in this paper may be utilised in forecasting the further durability of similar structures.