Abstract
Much fatigue damage has been observed in connections between stringers and floorbeams in initially-welded steel railway bridges. In this study, static loading tests and fatigue tests on full-scale connections between stringers and floorbeams were carried out in order to identify fatigue performance, with the objective of improving fatigue performance so that life extension methods for the connections could be developed. As a result, it became clear that the existing connections were susceptible to fatigue damage in predictable locations, and that this low fatigue performance resulted in increased stress in the surrounding area. It was also found that a certain reinforcement method was effective in reducing stress in the fatigue damaged areas.
