{"688992":{"#nid":"688992","#data":{"type":"event","title":"PhD Defene by MATTHEW L. PHILLIPS","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003ESchool of Civil and Environmental Engineering\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EPh.D. Thesis Defense Announcement\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EEFFECTS OF MULTIPLE WELD REPAIRS ON A709 STEELS\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EBy\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;MATTHEW L. PHILLIPS\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAdvisor\u003C\/strong\u003E:\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EDR. RYAN J. SHERMAN\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003ECommittee Members:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;DR. DONALD WHITE (CEE), DR. LAUREN STEWART (CEE), DR. EDVARD BRUUN (CEE), DR. SHUMAN XIA (ME)\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EDate and Time:\u003C\/strong\u003E\u0026nbsp;March 30, 2026. 2pm EST Location: SEB 122 \/ Virtual Link\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cp\u003EABSTRACT\u003Cbr\u003EWelding is used extensively throughout steel bridge fabrication. Considerable care\u003Cbr\u003Eis taken to ensure the welds are sound, but rejectable defects are occasionally\u003Cbr\u003Eidentified during fabrication and must be repaired, with some requiring multiple\u003Cbr\u003Erepair attempts to resolve. Currently, there is no limit on the number of repair welds\u003Cbr\u003Eallowed before a member is rejected, leading to concerns about the behavior and\u003Cbr\u003Elongevity of repaired joints and potentially costly disputes between owners and\u003Cbr\u003Efabricators over the acceptance or rejection of members containing repaired joints.\u003Cbr\u003EThe objective of the current study is to determine the effects of multiple weld repairs\u003Cbr\u003Eon the material properties and fatigue life of complete joint penetration (CJP)\u003Cbr\u003Ewelded joints made from A709 Grades 50W and HPS70W steels. An experimental\u003Cbr\u003Eprogram comprising material characterization and fatigue testing has been\u003Cbr\u003Edeveloped to accomplish the objective. Material characterization tests were\u003Cbr\u003Econducted on plate specimens that were welded and repaired between zero and five\u003Cbr\u003Etimes. Large-scale flexural fatigue tests were conducted on built-up members with\u003Cbr\u003E3\/4\u0022 and 1-1\/2\u0022 thick flanges that have multiple butt-splice CJP welds that have been repaired between zero and five times. The material characterization tests showed\u003Cbr\u003Ethat the number of weld repairs has little effect on the ductility, yield\/tensile strength,\u003Cbr\u003Eand impact energy of the joint, with all joints meeting the strength requirements of\u003Cbr\u003Ethe steel bridge industry. The fatigue tests showed no discernible trend between the\u003Cbr\u003Efatigue life of the joint and the number of weld repairs, and all joints met or exceeded\u003Cbr\u003Ethe design-life predictions from AASHTO and displayed scatter similar to that\u003Cbr\u003Eobserved in historical data. Ultimately, the findings from this dissertation indicate\u003Cbr\u003Ethat no repair weld limits should be imposed for material property or fatigue life\u003Cbr\u003Econcerns; however, repair weld limits required for quality control purposes should\u003Cbr\u003Estill be considered.\u003C\/p\u003E","summary":"","format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EEFFECTS OF MULTIPLE WELD REPAIRS ON A709 STEELS\u003C\/p\u003E","format":"limited_html"}],"field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"EFFECTS OF MULTIPLE WELD REPAIRS ON A709 STEELS"}],"uid":"27707","created_gmt":"2026-03-17 18:36:13","changed_gmt":"2026-03-17 18:36:51","author":"Tatianna Richardson","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","field_event_time":{"event_time_start":"2026-03-30T14:00:00-04:00","event_time_end":"2026-03-30T16:00:00-04:00","event_time_end_last":"2026-03-30T16:00:00-04:00","gmt_time_start":"2026-03-30 18:00:00","gmt_time_end":"2026-03-30 20:00:00","gmt_time_end_last":"2026-03-30 20:00:00","rrule":null,"timezone":"America\/New_York"},"location":"SEB 122 \/ Virtual Link","extras":[],"groups":[{"id":"221981","name":"Graduate Studies"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"100811","name":"Phd Defense"}],"core_research_areas":[],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[{"id":"1788","name":"Other\/Miscellaneous"}],"invited_audience":[{"id":"78771","name":"Public"}],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[],"email":[],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}