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Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering
Signal Mast Arm Fatigue Failure Investigation, Genda Chen, Michael G. Barker, Lokeswarappa R. Dharani, Christopher W. Ramsay
Signal Mast Arm Fatigue Failure Investigation, Genda Chen, Michael G. Barker, Lokeswarappa R. Dharani, Christopher W. Ramsay
Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has discovered and documented failures in several cantilever mast arms in the recent years. The failures were primarily by fatigue at the weld of the arm to the base plate attached to the mast. With over 6000 mast arms in service in Missouri, the failures raised concerns with the existing mast arm inventory and future mast arm design. This report presents findings from an effort to determine the cause of unexpected cracking in Missouri mast arms. Three causes of premature failure were investigated: the stress ranges experienced at the weld detail were higher than …