This article provides the framework for the investigation of bridge failures. It explains the types of bridge loading and presents the regulatory provisions for bridges. Some bridge failures in the U.S. that resulted in significant changes in bridge manufacturing, design, regulation, and/or maintenance are also discussed. In addition, the article provides information on traffic damage and fatigue cracking that result in bridge failures. The need for steels with better fracture toughness in bridge design is also discussed.

This article illustrates the defects, which result because of poor-quality welds in the bridge components. The cracks resulting from the use of low fatigue strength details are also discussed. The article describes the effect of out-of-plane distortion in floor-beam-girder connection plates, multiple-girder diaphragm connection plate, and tied-arch floor beams.

The types of metal components used in lifting equipment include gears, shafts, drums and sheaves, brakes, brake wheels, couplings, bearings, wheels, electrical switchgear, chains, wire rope, and hooks. This article primarily deals with many of these metal components of lifting equipment in three categories: cranes and bridges, attachments used for direct lifting, and built-in members of lifting equipment. It first reviews the mechanisms, origins, and investigation of failures. Then the article describes the materials used for lifting equipment, followed by a section explaining the failure analysis of wire ropes and the failure of wire ropes due to corrosion, a common cause of wire-rope failure. Further, it reviews the characteristics of shock loading, abrasive wear, and stress-corrosion cracking of a wire rope. Then, the article provides information on the failure analysis of chains, hooks, shafts, and cranes and related members.

This article is an atlas of fractographs that helps in understanding the causes and mechanisms of fracture of ASTM/ASME alloy steels and in identifying and interpreting the morphology of fracture surfaces. The fractographs illustrate the solidification cracking, creep failure, brittle fracture, fracture by overpressurization, inclusion effect, fatigue crack propagation, ductile fatigue striation, secondary cracking, intergranular fracture, and elevated-temperature fracture of alloy steels used in pressure vessels, steam boiler superheater tubes, and box-girder bridges.

This article focuses on the mechanisms and common causes of failure of metal components in lifting equipment in the following three categories: cranes and bridges, particularly those for outdoor and other low-temperature service; attachments used for direct lifting, such as hooks, chains, wire rope, slings, beams, bales, and trunnions; and built-in members such as shafts, gears, and drums.

Composites, particularly fiber-reinforced polymer materials, are increasingly being adopted or considered as alternatives to conventional materials for civil infrastructure applications, such as bridges, buildings, waterfront structures, waste treatment facilities, and facilities for transmission and transport of utilities. This article provides information on seismic retrofit applications and discusses the repair and strengthening of components, such as beams, slabs, large-diameter pipes, and bridge decks.

One of the key attributes of continuous fiber-reinforced ceramic composites (CFCCs) is their ability to undergo inelastic straining upon mechanical loading. This article reviews the mechanics of inelastic deformation and fracture of CFCCs, as needed for the development of damage-tolerant failure prediction methodologies for use in engineering design. It outlines a general framework for the description of fracture in structural materials in the presence of notches and cracks. The article describes the common classes of fracture behavior of CFCCs and presents the constitutive laws needed to describe crack-tip inelasticity. It demonstrates the effects of inelasticity on crack-tip stress fields and addresses the environmental degradation effects on damage tolerance.

This article describes the relationship between failure analysis and materials selection and a basic procedure for performing a failure analysis. It discusses the methods for analyzing failures to improve materials selection and presents examples that illustrate the use of failure analysis in materials selection and materials development/refinement.

The design of structural components with nominally brittle materials is largely determined by their elastic moduli, density, and tensile strength. This article discusses some of the factors involved in the design and reliability through considerations of toughness and ductility of nominally brittle materials. It describes toughening by various bridging mechanisms, as well as process zone effects and their interaction with the bridging rupture zone. The article explains the phenomena that give rise to exceptional toughness and notch-insensitive mechanical behavior. It provides a schematic illustration of a basic cell model to characterize the inelastic strains that occur in ceramic-matrix composites and their dependence on the interface friction.

This article provides a basic overview of bridge corrosion, where it occurs on steel and concrete bridge structures, and how to prevent corrosion by using coatings. It describes types of bridge designs, with illustrations, and presents information on how corrosion occurs in different bridge zones and areas, with illustrations. The article concludes with a discussion on the common methods of coating systems applications on bridge structures and key elements in coating condition assessment.

Bridges and highways are core components of transportation system and range from pavements with earth, gravel, or stone covered by a thin bituminous surface course to a continually reinforced Portland cement concrete (PCC) roadway with or without a bituminous wear course. This article provides information on bridges and dowels and the reinforcement used in PCC roadways that suffer from corrosion. An overview is provided on the rise in awareness of the corrosion issues affecting bridges and highways. The chemistry and structure of concrete and its role as an electrolyte in promoting corrosion are also discussed. The article addresses reinforcement, including conventional, prestressed, cable stays, and corrosion-resistant reinforcement. It deals with the electrochemical methods for the inspection and corrosion control of embedded reinforcement. The article also reviews the corrosion of metal bridges and corrosion control, including the use of weathering steels and coating systems.

This article describes the paint systems generally used to protect steel structures, steel sheet, and bridges from corrosion, and how they deter corrosion. It provides a discussion on the basic design criteria of steel structures for corrosion protection. The article also explains the differences between prepaint and postpaint, and the steps involved in prepaint processing of steel. It presents the selection guideline for paint system evaluation. The advantages of corrosion protection are also discussed.

This article briefly introduces the concepts of failure analysis, including root-cause analysis (RCA), and the role of failure analysis as a general engineering tool for enhancing product quality and failure prevention. It initially provides definitions of failure on several different levels, followed by a discussion on the role of failure analysis and the appreciation of quality assurance and user expectations. Systematic analysis of equipment failures reveals physical root causes that fall into one of four fundamental categories: design, manufacturing/installation, service, and material, which are discussed in the following sections along with examples. The tools available for failure analysis are then covered. Further, the article describes the categories of mode of failure: distortion or undesired deformation, fracture, corrosion, and wear. It provides information on the processes involved in RCA and the charting methods that may be useful in RCA and ends with a description of various factors associated with failure prevention.

Knowledge of fatigue behavior at the laminate level is essential for understanding the fatigue life of a laminated composite structure. This article describes fatigue failure of composite laminates in terms of layer cracking, delamination, and fiber break and interface debonding. It discusses the fatigue behavior of composite laminates in the form of a relation between applied maximum fatigue stress and fatigue life. The article explains Weibull distribution and parameters estimation for fatigue data analysis and life prediction of composite laminates. It analyzes the fatigue properties and damage tolerance of fiber-metal laminates such as ARALL and GLARE laminates. The article concludes with a discussion on the effects of fatigue on notched and unnotched specimens.

This article first describes the two methods used in the 1998 U.S. corrosion cost study. In the first method, the cost was determined by summing the costs for corrosion control methods and contract services. In the second, the cost of corrosion was first determined for specific industry sectors and then extrapolated to calculate a national total corrosion cost. The article then reports the results and conclusions of the study. It concludes with information on corrosion prevention strategies.