Impact of developed train models and historical traffic modeling on the fatigue life of a 19th century truss railway bridge member

Date

2025-8

Author

Kurtuluş, Alkım Yaşar

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

704
views

0
downloads

Cite This

This thesis investigates the impact of synthetic train models and historical traffic assumptions on the fatigue life of a truss member of a 19th-century railway bridge. A finite element model was calibrated with limited field measurements, and fatigue was estimated according to Eurocode. Twelve train models representing three operational eras resulted in 44.9% cumulative damage, while alternative scenarios produced values from 24% to nearly 100%. Variations in axle spacing also altered stress ranges significantly, underlining the influence of train configuration. The study demonstrates that synthetic traffic modeling, even with limited historical data, can provide meaningful insights, but accurate fatigue life estimation requires careful selection of representative train models.

Subject Keywords

Synthetic train models, Synthetic traffic, Historical bridge, Steel truss railway bridge, Finite element model calibration

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115638

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis