LAUSR

Abstract Fatigue failures are a concern for old riveted steel bridges since most of them were not originally designed taking into account fatigue. The usual fatigue assessment approach for riveted joints consists of using the fatigue class 71 S-N curve proposed in Eurocode 3, part 1–9. However, this approach may lead to excessive conservative predictions since it is applied indistinctly for different riveted connection geometries and materials. Riveted joints fatigue classification according to the proposal of Taras and Greiner produce more consistent description of the experimental data rather than the Class 71 S-N curve as proposed in the EC3. Local approaches are an alternative methodology to perform fatigue characterization of any type of joints, made of any material, providing that material fatigue properties are available as well as accurate numerical models of the joints. This paper presents an experimental campaign and a numerical analysis concerning down-scale riveted specimens. The fatigue behaviour of these riveted joints was also modelled using standard and extended finite element methods. The different models produced diverse predictions, depending on the failure modes considered.