Fatigue damage assessment on aging riveted metallic railway bridges: A literature review

Fatigue degradation of aging metallic bridges is a major concern for the safety of the railway network, particularly regarding riveted details. The codes in force propose mainly global analysis methodologies to perform an efficient assessment, without lowering the calculations from the global to the local fatigue damage scale, with the latter being the one more consistent with the fatigue damaging phenomenon. However, relevant approximations are taken into account in these global analysis approaches, often leading to inaccurate service life predictions. Alternatively, local fatigue methods may be considered, but the multiscale problem mentioned has prevented the generalisation of these to investigate large structures. This paper aims to systematically review relevant works in this field, laying the foundation for future research and contributing to improving fatigue assessment on aging metallic railway bridges, mainly as regards the legacy of existing riveted.