Thermoelastic Stress Analysis Of Fatigue-Prone Details

A novel approach for in-situ evaluation of stress fields in the vicinity of fatigue prone details on highway bridges has been developed using a low cost micro-bolometer thermal imager. The approach is based on the well proven theory of thermoelasticity. The method has been extended to the measurement and visualization of the stress field in the vicinity of stress concentrations present at fatigue prone details on highway bridges subject to random truck loading. The theory and the results of laboratory and field testing are presented.