Fatigue life prediction for concrete bridges using Bayesian network

A probabilistic fatigue life prediction framework for concrete bridges is proposed in this study. The proposed fatigue analysis framework combines the fatigue crack growth-based material life prediction model and a nonlinear structural analysis method. A Bayesian network is established to predict the fatigue life of a concrete bridge according to the proposed framework. The proposed methodology is demonstrated using an experimental example for fatigue life prediction of a concrete box-girder, and the ratio of the posterior predicted mean (updating time n=8) to the test value decreases to 33%similar to 1% in the current investigation.