scope:

This report describes the fatigue tests of nine large-size, welded plate girders. The girders were subjected to loading conditions of high shear, pure bending and their combination. Maximum applied loads were at levels generally somewhat in excess of practical magnitudes. Three failure modes existed, corresponding to the three loading conditions. In comparing the plate bending stresses caused by the lateral web deflections with the numbers of cycles at crack initiation, good correlation was observed.