Strength verification of steel truss gusset plates subjected to compressive force

Generally, a steel truss bridge is said to be less redundant than other types of bridges. In Japan, several truss bridge accidents such as a failure of a diagonal member were reported recent years, though they didn’t develop into serious incidents such as a collapse of the entire bridge. However, a joint of truss bridges is considered to be a structurally important part of truss structure systems. In this study, the authors focus on the gusset plates of a joint subjected to compressive force. This paper firstly discusses the failure mechanism of gusset plates subjected to compressive force in a diagonal member. This failure mechanism is examined by conducting a loading test of a joint cut out from an old steel truss bridge in Japan as well as carrying out the non-linear FEM analyses of the joint model. And then, a method of strength verification of gusset plates is proposed.