Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Fatigue Assessment Of Traffic Signal Mast Arms Based On Field Test Data Under Natural Wind Gusts, Genda Chen, Jingning Wu, Jiaqing Yu, Lokeswarappa R. Dharani, Michael G. Barker

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

In recent years, several states including Missouri, Wyoming, California, and Texas experienced fracture failures of traffic signal mast arms. Almost all the failures are associated with the propagation of defects or cracks. It is therefore imperative to evaluate existing mast arms using a simple yet accurate procedure. A statistical methodology is proposed to predict the fatigue life of signal mast arm structures on the basis of field-measured strain data. The annual occurrence of various stress levels is determined using the historical wind speed data in the vicinity of a mast arm structure and the strain readings of the structure under …