Abstract
Bolting-Stop-Hole Method is one of the useful methods to repair the fatigue crack in welded steel structures such as steel bridges. In this method, the stress concentration is reduced by drilling the hole at the tip of crack and tightening the hole by high strength bolt, and the fatigue strength consequently is improved. In this study, for the purpose of making clear repair effects of the Bolting-Stop-Hole Method against fatigue cracked out-of plate gusset welded joints under in-plane bending stresses, stress analyses using three dimensional finite element method, stress measuring tests and fatigue tests were performed on the girder specimen with out-of-plate gusset welded joints. On the basis of analytical and experimental results, the evaluation formula for the fatigue strength has been proposed and its validity has been confirmed.
