Volume 26 Issue 6
Jun.  2026
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XIN Hao-hui, HUANG Xu, ZHAO Qian-yu, LIU Gao, NI Ya, YIN Ru-yang. Experimental study on high-temperature creep-fatigue sequential coupling performance of Q345 steel for bridge[J]. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 2026, 26(6): 104-114. doi: 10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.314
Citation: XIN Hao-hui, HUANG Xu, ZHAO Qian-yu, LIU Gao, NI Ya, YIN Ru-yang. Experimental study on high-temperature creep-fatigue sequential coupling performance of Q345 steel for bridge[J]. Journal of Traffic and Transportation Engineering, 2026, 26(6): 104-114. doi: 10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.314
shu

Experimental study on high-temperature creep-fatigue sequential coupling performance of Q345 steel for bridge

doi: 10.19818/j.cnki.1671-1637.2026.314
  • 1.

    School of Civil Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, Jiangsu, China

  • 2.

    State Key Laboratory of Safety, Durability and Healthy Operation of Long Span Bridges, Nanjing 211112, Jiangsu, China

  • 3.

    Jiangsu Zhiqiao Technology Co., Ltd., Nanjing 210019, Jiangsu, China

Funds:

National Natural Science Foundation of China 52578177

Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China 52595691

National Key R&D Program of China 2024YFB2605700

More Information
  • Corresponding author: LIU Gao, professor, PhD, E-mail: liugao77@seu.edu.cn
  • Received Date: 2026-01-05
  • Accepted Date: 2026-05-27
  • Rev Recd Date: 2026-02-27
  • Publish Date: 2026-06-28
    Abstract
  • To meet the practical demand for fatigue performance assessment of bridge steel structures after fire, Q345 low-carbon alloy steel, which is widely used in bridge engineering, was selected as the research object. A total of 15 standard cylindrical dog-bone specimens were designed in 4 categories and 7 groups. The influence law of different creep damage durations under sustained loading on the residual deformation and fatigue performance of the steel after cooling was systematically investigated. The results show that as the high-temperature creep time increases from 0 to 0.7 times the creep rupture time, the average fatigue life of the sequential creep-fatigue coupling specimens decreases from 3.22×105 cycles to 1.15×105 cycles, representing a reduction of 64.4%. The sequential creep-fatigue coupling effect transforms the fracture morphology into a cup-and-cone shape and shrinks the fatigue propagation zone. This is mainly due to the reduction in material load-bearing capacity caused by oxidation decarburization and creep damage, which accelerates fatigue failure. Different high-temperature creep times have little effect on the dynamic elastic modulus of the specimens. The softening ratio of the elastic modulus is close to 1.0, and the initial dynamic elastic modulus decreases by only 8.7% at maximum. The critical cumulative plastic strain decreases significantly with increasing creep time, with a maximum reduction of 55.6%, while the plastic strain accumulation rate remains basically unchanged. As the creep time increases, the high-temperature creep damage reduces the cumulative plastic deformation tolerance of the sequential fatigue process, causing the material to accelerate softening and fail at lower plastic strain levels. This study can provide an experimental basis and theoretical reference for the fatigue performance assessment and residual life prediction of fire-damaged bridge steel structures.

     

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