Use of Universal Mill Plates Made by Electric Arc Furnace Process to Railway Truss Bridges

Abstract

Despite of a certain advantage, universal mill plates produced by electric arc furnace process are rarely used for main members of Japanese railway bridges. It may be because effects oftheir characteristics, such as chemical components, corner drop of the plate edge, and thick mill scale, on their weldability and fatigue strength are not fully understood. Therefore, weldability tests are carried out using T joints for the universal mill plates. Then, fatigue tests of six types of tensile specimens and a full size truss member are carried out. All fatigue test results satisfy the corresponding allowable fatigue strength. It is concluded that universal mill plates satisfy the requirements of steel railway bridges.