Arresting Cracks in Steel Bridges

Using Proven Aerospace Technology

Western Bridge Preservation Partnership – San Diego CA May 12, 2013

Len Reid, Vice President Technology

Objective
• Presentation will introduce expanded bushing method to
enhance drill stop repairs
• Explain derivation of the process from aerospace hole
cold expansion method
• Used to extend the fatigue life and damage tolerance life of
aircraft structures.
• Show by test how the enhanced drill stop method arrests
the growth of cracks in test coupons
• Show examples of where the technology has been
applied to steel bridges
Background
• Cracking in steel bridges is one of the major causes for
concern in bridge maintenance and preservation
• Temporary repairs are often installed to allow continued
operation of bridge
• Minimize impact on local commerce/infrastructure
• Buy time to effect more permanent repair/structural replacement
• Depending on effectiveness of repairs could lead to load
limits on bridge
• Total or partial bridge closure can have significant
ramifications and impact on local community and commerce
Typical Cracks in Bridges or Infrastructure

Cracks from welds

Cracks from bolt holes

Typical Fatigue Crack Identified with Dye Penetrant
Stopping Cracks in Bridges/structures
• Many cracks are repaired by
cutting out the crack and
welding a repair patch in place
or adding doublers
• Can change the stiffness and
dynamic response of the member

• Most common method of

preventing cracks from growing
is by “drill stop” or crack arrest
hole (CAH) at the crack tip
• Objective to “blunt” the crack tip
• reduce stress concentration at
crack tip
Generally used as a temporary repair option
Temporary Repair – Drill Stops
• Drill-stop method often not effective
• Size of CAH based on material properties can be impractically large
• Compromised by access or available drill bit
 Fails to arrest crack growth
 Miss the crack tip
 Residual tensile stress at crack tip
 Cracks reinitiate on other side of drill
stop hole
 Can lead to structural failure and/or
bridge closure

Requires repeat
inspections/monitoring
Enhancing Drill Stops
• Variety of methods tried
• Installing interference fit bolts or fasteners
a) Method relies on effective interference
• Pre-stressing crack tip
• Surface treatment methods
a) Ultrasonic impact
b) Shot peening around hole
• Pre-stressing hole using novel piezoelectric method
• Application on bridges not practical
• No convenient way of verifying hole was correctly expanded

• Methods shown to have little or no effect in retarding crack growth

• Especially if driving stresses are high or crack is near critical crack length
• No convenient way to measure effectiveness of temporary repair
• Does not eliminate need for ongoing monitoring/inspection
Enhanced Drill Stop Method
• Derived from over 40 years experience in the aerospace industry,
improved drill stop method effectively arrests crack growth
• “StopCrackEX” is adapted from hole cold expansion and expanded
bushing technology developed for aerospace industry
• Installs high interference fit bushing that simultaneously induces beneficial
compressive residual stress around the bushing
• Shown to arrest further growth of cracks in test coupons
• Provides a positive indication hole has been treated

Drill Stop +
Drill FTI’s
Stop StopCrackE
X System
Enhancing Drill Stops
Derivation from Aerospace Technology

Fatigue Life Improvement of Holes

• Hole cold expansion (cold working)

developed by aerospace industry to
improve fatigue life and damage tolerance
of holes in aircraft structures
• Induces a zone of residual compressive
stress around and through the hole
a) Extends radially one diameter from hole

• Hole cold expansion proven to be very

effective in eliminating rail-end bolt hole
cracking in railroad industry
Hole is effectively “shielded,”
reducing effective stress
intensity factor, and therefore
the propagation fatigue cracks.
Split Sleeve Cold Expansion Overview

• One-sided process

• Effective in all metals

including A36 bridge and
railroad steels

• Typically increases fatigue

life by a factor of 10:1
Generates large, controllable zone of
• Arrests growth of small residual stress surrounding the hole
cracks present in the hole
prior to cold expansion
Residual Stress Distribution From Cold Expansion
A36 Steel under Axial Fatigue Loading
10,000,000

Process was used by Maximum

CALTRANS to extend Minimum

fatigue life of elevated Failure

highway truss joint holes Log Average

Run-out
Cycles to
Failure

1,000,000

Constant Amplitude Fatigue

Specimen: ZLT Dogbone
Loading: 30 ksi net stress, R=+0.05
Environment: ambient lab air

100,000

Non-cold cold
expansion expansion
> 12:1
Increase in Fatigue Life for Cold Expanded Holes—
U.S. DOT Rail Fatigue Results

Typical rail-end bolt hole

fatigue failure
Further Derivative of Cold Expansion Process
ForceMate Expanded Bushing Method

• Clearance fit bushing is

expanded radially into hole at
high interference fit
• Locally yields surrounding material
and induces a residual
compressive stress around bushing
• Lowers the mean stress at the
hole and reduces the applied
stress amplitude
• Greatly enhances fatigue life
of the bushed hole
Typical Fatigue Life Comparison
Shrink Fit Vs ForceMate Bushings

XX Test Specimen
137.9 XXX 7075-T651
Load Conditions:
XXXX
X Constant amplitude
Maximum 103.4 10 Hz
Net Section XX R = .05
Stress Level X XX
Beryllium Copper Bushings
(MPa) 68.9 XXXXX
X ForceMate Failure
X X X X
Shrink Fit X Shrink Fit Failure
34.5 No Failure
Champoux & Landy
ASTM STP 927
2 4 68 5 2 4 68 6 2 4 68 7 1987
10 10 10
―StopCrackEX‖ Enhanced Drill Stop Repair
• New method combines effectiveness of hole
cold expansion and high interference fit
“ForceMate” bushing
• Induces a beneficial residual compressive
stress around the bushing to shield it from the
cyclic stresses
• Bushing reinforces hole and reduces applied
stress and stress amplitude
• Effective even if local stresses are high
• Stainless steel bushing provides positive
indication that hole has been enhanced
• Uses a smaller drill stop hole, ½" dia.
• Typical drill stop 7/8 to 1.0 inch
• Coupon test program and FEA study validates
effectiveness in arresting crack growth
Location of Drill Stop Hole

Note: the hole is drilled

ahead of the crack tip to
ensure it captures the tip
to allow the crack to
grow into the hole
StopCrackEX Process
StopCrackEX Process Steps

1. Locate crack tip and drill/ream 2. Place bushing on mandrel and

0.50” dia. hole 5/16” ahead of tip insert into puller

4. Pull mandrel through 5. StopCrackEX Bushing

3. Place bushing in hole
bushing installed
StopCrackEX
Viewed Through a Photoelastic Coating on Plate
Residual Compressive Stress Field
from X-Ray Diffraction X-Ray Diffraction plots by
Proto Manufacturing Inc

Compressive Hoop Stress

Compressive Radial Stress

StopCrackEX Repair Kit

New design compact

puller incorporating offset
Coupon Test Program and Validating Analysis
Objective of the Analysis
• Prior to conducting coupon test program the coupon
was modeled to optimize location of StopCrackEX and
the load level
• Evaluate stress state at crack tip under tensile load for
1. Baseline plate configuration with hole drilled at crack tip to arrest
crack growth.
2. Plate with hole at the crack tip cold expanded using StopCrackEX
system

• Three different stress levels were evaluated for these two scenarios
1. Hole is drilled 1/16 inch in front of the crack tip and the crack is
stopped at this location.
2. Hole is drilled 1/16 inch in front of the crack and the crack is allowed
to grow into the hole.
FEA Model Simulation:
Compared to Coupon Test Configuration
FEA Model Simulation:
Compared to Coupon Test Configuration

• 2D plane stress models used for analysis

• Plate width =3 inch.
• Hole diameter = 0.5 inch, located 0.603 inch from edge of plate.
• Notch Dimensions ( from coupon drawings):
• Crack Located 1/16 inch from hole edge. extending from pre-notch.
• Plate material = A36 steel.
- yield strength = 46.6 ksi.
- Ultimate strength = 70.1 ksi.
• The StopCrackEx process was simulated
• Tensile load of 10995 lbs (net stress =20.5 ksi) was applied to the plate
after expansion to evaluate the stresses at the crack tip.
Finite Element Comparative Study
Drill Stop Vs StopCrackEX - Simulating Coupon Test
Baseline Drill Stop StopCrackEX

0.603 inch

R 0.25 inch

3 inch

Bushing

Plate
FEA Model: Crack Details

Baseline Drill Stop StopCrackEX

Notch

1/16 inch

Crack

Bushing

Plate
Hoop Stress (psi) Contour Plot:
Tensile Load = 0 ksi (No Applied Load)

StopCrackEX

Baseline Drill Stop

Hoop Stress (psi) Contour Plot:
Tensile Load = 13.5 ksi (Net Stress)

Baseline Drill Stop StopCrackEX

Tensile Load = 20.5.5 ksi (Net Stress)

FEA Model: Crack Details
Crack at Edge of Hole

Baseline Drill Stop StopCrackEX

Notch

Crack

Bushing

Plate
Hoop Stress (psi) Contour Plot: Crack at Edge of Hole
Tensile Load = 13.5 ksi (Net Stress)

StopCrackEX

Baseline Drill Stop

Hoop Stress (psi) Contour Plot: Crack at Edge of Hole
Tensile Load = 20.5 ksi (Net Stress)

StopCrackEX

Baseline Drill Stop

FEA Summary
• Models were run simulating test case with StopCrackEX repair with
the initial crack and the crack extending into the hole bore.
• Load of 10995 lbs (20.5 ksi net stress) was applied to the test plate with the notch,
initial crack and the crack at edge of hole.
• Stress profile for StopCrackEX process shows lower stresses at the
potential crack initiation site on the un-cracked side of the hole.
• Stresses on the un-cracked side of hole for StopCrackEX process were about
20 ksi lower than for Drill Stop process ( under tensile load of 10995 lbs).

• Based on the stress profiles, StopCrackEX will provide better

fatigue life compared to Drill Stop method.

• The Drill Stop process could have crack initiation at as low as 6.7 ksi
per FEA model

• FEA results under load showed good correlation to the test coupons
Fatigue Test Overview

• 7 specimens prepared –
tested in 22-kip frame
• Initial starter notch to promote
natural propagation of fatigue
crack
• Crack initiated and grown to
approximately 0.25 inches
• 25 ksi max gross stress
• R = 0.05, Frequency = 10 Hz

A36 Steel
Minimum yield 36 ksi
Tensile strength 58-80 ksi
Actual yield - 46.6 ksi
Actual tensile strength – 70.1 ksi
Test Setup - Pre-Cracking

• After all initial cracks were grown

to approximately 0.25 inches the
specimens were retrofitted with 1
of 2 methods
• Standard 0.5 inch crack arrest hole (CAH)
• FTI’s StopCrackEX process Crack Arrest Hole

• CAH and StopCrackEX Bushing holes

were placed in the same location for all
samples
• 0.603 inches from edge
• 0.060 inches in front of the crack

StopCrackEX Bushing
in Crack Arrest Hole
 Crack Arrest Method Testing

• After retrofit specimens were tested to

determine the fatigue life of the retrofit
• Max Net Stress = 20.5 ksi
• R = 0.05, Frequency = 10 Hz

• Cycle counts measured for two events

1. Number cycles for crack to reach the hole

2. Number of cycles required to initiate a

crack of approximately 0.150 inches on
the side of the hole opposite the crack
Post Repair Test Results

Crack Arrest Hole StopCrackEX Repair

No Crack Re-initiation on
other side of hole
Summary Of Coupon Test Results

• StopCrackEX showed at
least 12:1 improvement in
crack growth life

• No StopCrackEX coupons
cracked on other side of hole

• One Coupon ran to

20,000,000 cycles with no
evidence of crack on other
side of hole
Post Test Evaluation

• One more of the StopCrackEX coupons that did not fail at

4 million cycles was put back in the test frame and tested
at progressively increased load (stress level)
• 2 ksi increase to 22.5 ksi – ran 2 million cycles
• 2 ksi increase to 24.5 ksi – ran 2 million cycles
• 2 ksi increase to 26.5 ksi – ran 381,835 cycles failed
• Results showed that StopCrackEX allowed operations at
up to a 20% increase in load factor
Second Coupon Test Program
• One of the more prevalent cracks in bridges are those that run along
the heat effected zone associated with welds under flanges, beams
or girders
• Standard crack arrest holes are not effective in stopping cracks
• Often cut into and compromise welds
Location of Drill Stop Hole – Tangent to Crack Path
Second Test Program

• FTI has test program to evaluate

effectiveness of StopCrackEX placed
adjacent to tip of crack
• Authorities do not want to compromise
the weld
• Currently optimizing location of
StopCrackEX with respect to crack tip
Results of Test Program with Offset StopCrackEX

Max Load (lbs) Average Cycles

Repair Type After Repair R to Reinitiate

CAH 17,500 0.05 397,561

StopCrackEX 17,500 0.05 1,193,333
Improvement Percentage 300.2

• StopCrackEX showed a 300% improvement on life

extension compared to CAH
• Relative position of StopCrackEX adjacent to crack tip
being optimized
• Currently being evaluated on New Jersey Turnpike
CURRENT AND PENDING BRIDGE
APPLICATIONS
New Jersey Manahawkin Bay Bridge

Applied StopCrackEX to several cracks on bridge October 2011

After 15 months NJDOT observed cracks had reached the bushing but were arrested

51
New Jersey Manahawkin Bay Bridge
Observation

After 15 months NJDOT observed crack had reached the bushing but was arrested

52
New Jersey Turnpike
• Head to head comparison of StopCrackEX against
standard CAH on flyover to Lincoln Tunnel in NY
• Cracks running along weldment under flange
• CAH cannot be drilled into weld so need to drill CAH
adjacent to crack
• FEA shows StopCrackEX should be effective in
retarding crack growth because of induced residual
compressive stress
• Application March 2012
NJ Turnpike Authority Trial
6 Cracks Identified for Trial Evaluation:

Conventional 1.0 inch diameter CAH on one

end of crack and StopCrackEX on the other
NJ Turnpike
Carrying out trial repair on one of
the cracks

Drilling through weld for 1.0”

diameter CAH proved difficult and
time consuming (5 times longer)
Reaming Drill Stop Hole

Pilot drilling hole Installing StopCrackEX

NYDOT Bridge, Marysville
• Installed StopCrack EX on hole that
had been RED Flagged
• Repaired hole will be monitored
• Will save considerable time and cost
over alternate doubler repair.
Crack

Alternate Doubler Repair Post Repair

NYDOT Miller Rd Bridge
Near Albany (I-90 overpass)
• Double ended crack either side of
a structural diaphragm
• Crack occurred in previously
welded patch repair
• StopCrackEX installed at each end
of crack

June 25, 2012

WASDOT – I-5 Bridge over Stillaguamish River, Marysville
January 2013

 8 locations where StopCrackEX applied

 Some with multiple cracks
 Cracking associated with out-of-plane
bending from diaphragm attachment
Missouri DOT Orthotropic Bridge Deck Repair
Missouri DOT Orthotropic Bridge Deck Repair
Missouri DOT
• Evaluation using the expanded bushing
method to resize holes in girders on a
bridge to facilitate removal of
corroded/cracked pin joint plates
• Plug welds removed by core drilling through
plate and girder
• Faster and easier than drilling out weld
• Plates removed
• Hole in girder resized by expanding high
interference fit bushing into hole
• New plates fitted and bolted in place using
original size bolts
MODOT Pin Joint Plate Replacement
• Core drilling out the plug • Expanding bushing in
welds (1.25” dia) girder to resize hole for
1.00” dia bolt
Summary Conclusions
• There are many aging steel bridges
in the USA
• A large number of these bridges
have critical fatigue cracks
• Repairs are expensive and time
consuming
• Require continuous monitoring
• Catastrophic failure devastating in
terms of lost infrastructure,
commerce and possibly lives lost
• Current crack arrest hole is
ineffective in mitigating crack growth
Conclusions
 StopCrackEX system based on proven
aerospace technology
 Induces beneficial residual compressive
stress around the bushed hole
 Shown by coupon test and FEA analysis to
arrest growth of cracks StopCrackEX showed 45 to 90 times
 Provides positive indication of improvement over crack arrest holes

implementation – visible bushing

 Will extend structural inspection cycle
 Can provide significant maintenance,
preservation and repair cost savings
 Extend inspection intervals
 Will enhance overall structural integrity and
safety of bridge structure
 Should be part of overall long term bridge
preservation plan
 Questions? Thank You!

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