Bending Fatigue Performance of Small-Scale Stay Cables

This thesis documents the construction and fatigue testing of small-scale specimens designed to model the longest stays on the Fred Hartman Bridge. Transverse stiffness and axial strains were monitored periodically during the fatigue tests to evaluate the degradation of the structural characteristics due to the accumulation of fatigue damage. Also, strand was tested axially to determine the mechanical and fatigue properties and to compare them to published values. The goal of the project is to compare the measured response of the small-scale specimens with analytical models used to evaluate the fatigue response of the bridge stays.