INCREASING FATIGUE LIFE OF NEW WELDED AND REPAIRED JOINTS BY HFMI TREATMENT

Abstract There is a growing number of welded steel bridges in the world that are reaching the end of their design life. Repair of fatigue damage (cracks) or replacement with new modern designs is becoming an increasing issue. Fatigue damage is now one of the main design and construction risks associated with the construction of new dynamically stressed steel structures. Fatigue damage is now one of the main design and engineering risks associated with the construction of new dynamically stressed steel structures. Increasing fatigue life can be achieved by HFMI treatment that can be applied to new weld as well as existing welded joints. This paper presents the results of experiments focused on HFMI treatment to new and repaired butt welds of higher thicknesses.