Study of the U-Rib and Diaphragm Welding Joints of Wide Steel-Box Girder

The structural details around the cutouts at the joints of the diaphragms and U rib of wide steel box girder are susceptible to the fatigue failure owing to the characteristic that the transverse load bearing of the girder is great. To improve the fatigue performance of the structural details, one eight-lane cable-stayed highway bridge was selected as an example and in the light of the common type of the cutouts, the software ANSYS was used to create the finite element model for the segment of the steel box girder and the structural strength.