Abstract
Fatigue cracks have been reported in the column and beam connection of steel trestle bents of highway bridges. The previous studies have showed that a prism shaped incomplete penetration in the intersection of three welding lines reduced the fatigue life. When the weld groove finishing and/or welding process was inappropriate, those incomplete penetrations were left. This study is aimed at detecting the incomplete penetration by the ultrasonic nondestructive technique. There are three patterns of the plate assembly applied in Japan. This study focuses on two of them. Two specimens were made, considering the details of the connections. This study also utilizes the information of plate assembly, because the orientation and size of the incomplete penetration depends on the plate assembly. Under the assumption that an incomplete penetration consists of five surfaces, ultrasonic test was carried out. It was possible to obtain some echoes from the incomplete penetrations. Based on the test data, the image of the incomplete penetrations could be reconstructed.
