Heavy-haul railways have a high passing frequency of trains with a large axle weight, causing rapid accumulation of fatigue damage in reinforced concrete (RC) bridge structures, which significantly affects the safety of the bridges. To study the fatigue reliability of RC beams in heavy-haul railways, the fatigue performance function for RC beams in heavy-haul railways was established, and the fatigue reliability assessment method for bridge structures in heavy-haul railways based on the point estimate method (PEM) was developed. An 8 meter-span plate beam in an existing heavy-haul railway illustrates the method. The train axle weight and dynamic coefficient were considered random variables, and the first four moments of equivalent stress ranges were obtained. The traffic quantity of the heavy-haul railways was investigated, and the fatigue reliability was evaluated using the proposed method. In addition, the effects of annual freight volume and train axle weight on fatigue reliability were discussed. Results indicate that PEM can effectively and accurately evaluate the fatigue reliability of RC beams in heavy-haul railways. In the first 20 years of operation, the fatigue failure probability was less than the limit value specified in the standard. The increase in annual traffic volume and train axle weight will cause a significant increase in fatigue failure probability. The research results of this paper are expected to provide an important basis for the design and maintenance of reinforced concrete bridges for heavy-haul railways in the future.
Keywords: equivalent stress range; failure probability; fatigue reliability; heavy-haul railways; point estimate method; reinforced concrete beam.