PROCEEDINGS OF THE 10TH INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON TUBULAR

STRUCTURES, 18 20 SEPTEMBER 2003, MADRID, SPAIN

Tubular Structures X
Jaurrieta, M.A., Alonso, A., Chica, J.A. (Eds.)

Welded circular hollow section (CHS)

joints in bridges
Ulrike Kuhlmann
Hans-Peter Gnther
Reiner Saul
Marc-Ulrich Hderle

A.A. BALKEMA PUBLISHERS

LISSE / ABINGDON / EXTON (PA) / TOKYO

Welded circular hollow section (CHS) joints in bridges

U. Kuhlmann & H.-P. Gnther
Institute of Structural Design, University of Stuttgart, Germany

R. Saul & M.-U. Hderle

Leonhardt, Andr und Partner, Consulting Office, Stuttgart, Germany

ABSTRACT: The use of circular hollow section members in bridge design is a relatively new concept. The
application of such constructions is strongly influenced by the design and manufacturing of the joints. In general, there are two possibilities: either to use cast steel joints or welded joints.
This contribution tries to give an overview about the advantages and disadvantages of both possibilities concerning the aspects of resistance, fatigue, manufacturing and economy in order to help practical engineers in
their decisions and to allow for a further application of circular hollow sections in bridge design.
As a crucial question, special considerations are given to the fatigue assessment of welded circular hollow
section joints. For an example of a recently completed bridge with a typical spatial CHS truss and cast steel
joints it has been shown that also welded connections would have been a possible alternative. This conclusion
is drawn from numerical studies based on FE calculations applying the hot-spot stress approach for the fatigue
assessment of the welded joints.

1 INTRODUCTION

2 CHS IN BRIDGE DESIGN

Spatial truss girders built up with tubular members

are more and more used in modern bridge design due
to their architectural transparent appearance. Most
important for the design and durability of such
structures is the design and the construction of the
joints.
The recently in Germany completed highway
bridge Korntal-Mnchingen design by Leonhardt, Andr und Partner was constructed using cast
steel joints at the intersection of the tubular members. However, during the design process of this
bridge, several proposals suggested the use of costeffective welded joints. Due to some lack of information, mainly concerning the durability and fatigue
behaviour of this kind of joint and due to some positive experience with cast steel in former CHS
bridges, the relevant highway authority finally decided to use cast steel joints.
This was the starting point for intensive numerical investigations in order to clarify whether for this
specific type of bridge welded joints would have
been a possible alternative, see also Kuhlmann et. al.
(2002).

2.1 General
The use of circular hollow section members as part
of the main load-carrying structure of bridge girders
is a relatively new constructional concept. During
the last couple years several steel-concrete composite bridges had been constructed, see Table 1. The
typical cross-section of this type of bridge generally
consists of a tubular spatial truss girder carrying the
concrete deck slab (Figure 1). The deck slab is connected directly to the steel structure by either shear
studs, concrete dowels or in some cases where no
top chord exist, as e.g. at the Nesenbachtal bridge
by saw-tooth connections, see Schlaich et. al. (2000).

Figure 1. Cross-section of the bridge Korntal-Mnchingen

At the bottom chord of the tubular space truss

four brace members have to be connected to the
continuous bottom chord. This type of joint is usually named KK-joint (Figure 2).
Table 1 summarizes the dimensions of five CHS
highway bridges recently built in Switzerland (CH)
and Germany (D), as well as their joint characteristics. The table clearly indicates that all five bridges
resemble each other concerning their overall global
and local dimensions.

3.1.2 Structural Behaviour

The casting process allows almost perfectly modeling of the joint according to the flow of internal
forces, avoiding large stress concentrations. The cast
joints are usually designed in such a way, that the
load bearing capacity of the joint is higher than that
of the attached tubular sections. This is generally
done using three-dimensional FE calculations.
During the design of the cast joints one should
also consider some special features regarding the
casting process. Large differences of the wall thickness for example, significantly influence the solidification and shrinkage process of the melt and may
lead to unintentional internal blowholes and micro
cracks. In order to avoid this, solidification simulation calculations may help to get the cast free from
blowholes and to find the optimal feeder head position for fabrication.
3.1.3 Fatigue

Figure 2. Typical multiplanar KK-joint with notations

3 JOINT CONSTRUCTION
3.1 Cast Steel Joints
3.1.1 Material Properties
Through the ongoing development within the
manufacturing of cast steel products it is possible
nowadays to gain almost the same mechanical and
chemical qualities in terms of strength, toughness,
weldability and corrosion resistance as for ordinary
rolled steel products, see e.g. Schober (2001) or
Mang & Herion (2001).

The smooth shape of the cast joint according to

the flow of internal forces results in only small stress
concentrations, thus making cast steel joints in particular advantageous for structures subjected to repeated loading. The critical part in terms of fatigue
are the welds between the cast steel joint and the tubular steel members. Concerning the fatigue behaviour of this type of connection, there are only few investigations documented, some associated with the
Humbolthafen bridge in Berlin, see Seifried et. al.
(1999). Based on experimental investigations on
small and large scale test specimens, the fatigue resistance could be classified to detail category 71, according to Eurocode 3 Part 1.9 (2002), similar to a
butt welded end-to-end connection of CHS members.
3.1.4 Manufacturing and Quality Assurance
The manufacturing of cast joints is quite expensive due to the high costs preparing the cast form-

Table 1. Summary of recently built CHS bridges and joint characteristics

year of completion
span length
h/L of steel truss
type of joint construction
joint type
brace dimensions
chord dimensions
joint parameters
= d1/d0
= d0/2t0
= t1/t0
; cos()

1)

according to Dauner (1998)

Lully1)
(CH)
1997
43 m
1 / 14
welded
KK
267 / 25
508 / 36

Dttwill2)
(CH)
2001
38 m
1 / 12
welded
KK
267 / 25
508 / 50

0.53
7.06
0.69
60 ; 0.5
69

0.53
5.08
0.50
60 ; 0.5
69

2)

Aarwangen2)
(CH)
1997
48m
1 / 27
welded
K
194 / 28
406 / 36

Nesenbachtal
(D)
1999
25 / 50 / 36 m
1 / 11-22
cast steel
KK
194 / 10-60
324 / 16-80

Korntal-Mnch.
(D)
2002
32 / 41 m
1 / 13
cast steel
KK
267 / 28-45
457 / 45-67

0.48
5.64
0.78
45 ; 0.71
--

0.60
10.13-2.03
0.63-0.75
46 ; 0.69
102

0.58
5.07-3.51
0.62-0.69
60 ; 0.5
90

according to Schumacher, Nussbaumer & Hirt (2001)

work. Usually, additional machining of the connection device is required in order to fulfill the small
tolerances for a precise fitting of the tubular sections.
The quality assurance has to be guaranteed for
both, the welded connection between the cast joint
and the tubular sections and the cast steel material itself. In Germany, non-destructive quality control
usually is performed by ultrasonic devices in accordance with DIN 1690 (1991).

peated loading the high stress concentrations may

lead to a premature fatigue failure. Thus, the design
of welded CHS joints, particular for bridge structures is very much influenced by their fatigue behaviour.
CIDECT Serial No. 8 (2000) deals with the fatigue
behaviour of welded joints under repeated loading and
includes guidelines, charts and provides parametric
formulas for the design of welded CHS joints.

3.1.5 Economic Efficiency

3.2.3 Manufacturing and Quality Assurance

The economic efficiency using cast steel joints is

very dependent on the manufacturing of the cast
formwork. If the design of the bridge allows the use
of a large number of equal joints, a high cost effectiveness can be achieved by reducing the cost for the
formwork in relation to the single joint. Depending
on the number of equal joints and the complexity of
the joints the price varies between 3000 and
6000 per ton cast steel.

In order to ensure an optimal fitting of the diagonal brace members onto the continuous chord at the
very complicated intersection area a precise cutting
of the tubular members is required. Nowadays computer-operated profile cutting machines allow for an
efficient and very precise cutting process.
The welding is mainly manual. For a reliable
quality inspection of the welds, especially the critical
weld root, the geometrical dimensions of the joint
should be designed in a way that enough space for
inspection devices is guaranteed.

3.2 Welded Steel Joints

3.2.1 Structural Behaviour

3.2.4 Economic Efficiency

The forces between the members are directly

transmitted through the welds, leading to a very
complex and multidimensional stress situation with
high local stress concentrations.
Over the past 30 years a considerable amount of
research work on CHS joints has been driven forward by the petroleum industry concerning the design of offshore-structures. Most of this research is
published by CIDECT (Comit International pour le
Dveloppement et ltude de la Construction Tubulaire).
CIDECT Serial No. 1 (1991) includes guidelines,
charts and provides parametric formulas for the design
of welded CHS joints that are subjected to predominately static loading. Thus, allowing a quick and easy
design of such joints, without time-consuming FE
calculations.

As the chord member normally is continuous at

the joint and only the diagonal braces are to be
welded to the chord, the number of welded connections is reduced in comparison to cast steel joints
leading to decisive savings. However, some of the
savings are compensated by the more costly welding
procedures.
As a conclusion: for simple and standardized joint
types such as e.g. T-, X-, K- or KK-joints with easy
to reach weld positions, welded joints form the more
economic solution. Additionally, as the whole steel
construction is manufactured within only one company there are also logistic and organizational advantages.
4 FATIGUE ASSESSMENT OF CHS JOINTS
4.1 General; S-N Concept

3.2.2 Fatigue
Welded CHS joints are very sensitive to fatigue
because the geometric discontinuities of the welds
lead to a high stress concentration. Under static
loading, these stress concentrations are less important due to local plastification. However, under re-

Fatigue assessment procedures are usually based on

S-N curves which relate a nominal or geometric
stress range S to the corresponding number N of load
cycles to fatigue failure.

Table 2. Construction detail and detail category of a uniplanar CHS K-joint with gap according to Eurocode 3 Part 1.9 (2002)
Detail Category Constructural detail

90
m=5
45
m=5

Description

t0
2 .0
t1

- for intermediate values of the

ratio t0/t1 interpolate linearly
between detail categories
- t0 and t1 12.5 mm

t0
= 1 .0
t1

- 35 50
- d0 /t0 25

4.2 Nominal Stress Method

In this case fatigue assessment refers to the nominal stress range nom in a structural member.
The fatigue resistance is given according to a
classification catalogue in the form of standardized
S-N curves. Structural details classified in this catalogue, see e.g. Eurocode 3 Part 1.9 (2002), correspond to a specific situation of stress range, direction, crack position, detail dimension and weld
quality which had been characteristic for the tests on
which the classification is based.
Thus, the application of this method is limited in
some extend to the geometrical dimensions or the
loading conditions of the classified structural details.
Table 2, for example gives the detail category of
uniplanar CHS K-joints with gap depending on the
relation of the corresponding wall thickness ratio
t0/t1. In this special case, the range of application is
limited to a wall thickness of t0 and t1 12.5 mm
and therefore impossible to use for bridge structures.
4.3 Hot-Spot Stress Method
The hot-spot stress method also named geometric
stress method has been developed for unclassified
details and for details where a clear definition of the
nominal stress, e.g. due to geometric discontinuities
is not possible. The hot-spot stress is defined as the
maximum geometric stress occurring at the spots
where cracks usually tend to initiate. It characterizes
a fictitious measured or calculated stress at the critical section (hot-spot) that is extrapolated to the weld
toe, from two or three points at certain distances
from the weld toe, see Figure 3.
For design, the hot-spot stress is usually calculated by multiplying the nominal stress nom by the
so-called stress concentration factor (SCF) for the
appropriate structural discontinuity, see equation (1).
hs = SCF nom

In general, the hot-spot stress respectively the

stress concentration factor is determined by testing
and/or FE analysis. For typical CHS joints CIDECT
Serial No. 8 (2000) includes formulae and charts depending on the geometric dimensions, for the
evaluation of SCF values.
Similar to the nominal stress method the hot-spot
method uses Shs-N curves for the fatigue resistance,
where Shs is the hot-spot stress range.
The advantage of the hot-spot stress method is the
possibility of predicting the fatigue lives of many
different types of joint configuration using only one
single Shs-N curve.
5 STRESS CONCENTRATION FACTORS OF
WELDED CHS BRIDGE JOINTS
5.1 Bridge Korntal-Mnchingen
The bridge is located about 30 km north east of
Stuttgart nearby the small city of KorntalMnchingen and was opened for traffic in October
2002.
The total length of the bridge is about 300 m. The
main middle part of the bridge consists of a tubular
space truss (Figure 1 and 4) approximately 2.9 m in
depth and 4.6 m in width. Piers are typically spaced
between 32 m and 41 m. The diameter of the hotrolled CHS members were chosen to be 267 mm for
the braces and 457 mm for the chords. The wall
thickness of the CHS members varies in order to
achieve the necessary strength and stiffness. The
maximum wall thickness of the chord is 65 mm and
was needed at one of the inner-supports.
Although the joints where built in cast steel, these
typical dimensions of the bridge structure and the
joint geometry were used as an example to clarify
whether for this bridge welded joints would have
been a possible alternative.

(1)

Figure 3. Definition and extrapolation region of the hot-spot

stress hs

Figure 4. Spatial CHS framework of the bridge KorntalMnchingen

5.2 Finite Element Analysis

5.2.1 General
For the given CHS joint geometry it is not possible to verify the fatigue resistance according to the
hot-spot approach as recommended in CIDECT Serial No. 8 (2000). The reasons are as follows:
- the parameter range of the given SCF formulas and
charts is limited to 12 24 and 0,3 cos().
These conditions are not fulfilled for almost every
CHS bridge according to Table 1,
- the SCF formulas are restricted to CHS KK-joints
with gap but without any eccentricity and
- the Shs-N curves are limited to a wall thickness
smaller than t = 50 mm.
To overcome these restrictions a detailed FE analysis
has been performed, determining the critical hot-spot
stresses at the joint intersections, Stuba (2002). The
hot-spot stresses respectively SCF values were determined in accordance to CIDECT Serial No. 8
(2000) and Niemi (1992) using the FE package ANSYS. Figure 5 shows the three-dimensional FE
model of the KK-joint. Geometrical symmetries
have not been taken into account. 20-node solid
elements with an 3x3x3 integration scheme were
used. Various mesh densities were investigated and
compared in order to ensure enough convergence of
the stresses in the vicinity of the weld toe.

Figure 6. Applied loading and boundary conditions

5.2.3 Stress Concentration Factors (SCF)

The stress concentrations factors (SCF) were determined using the quadratic extrapolations method.
Studies by Romeijn (1994) have shown that for CHS
joints this method gives satisfying results.
In circumferential direction the tubular sections
have been divided into 36 elements/nodes resulting
in altogether 36 x 4 x 2 = 288 SCF values for one
joint and one loading condition.
Since no experimental results have been available, the numerical FE results of test calculations
were compared to the values given in CIDECT Serial No. 8 (2000), leading to an acceptable difference
less than 5%.
The location of maximum stress concentration
(hot-spot) always appeared in the brace near the saddle. Figure 8 shows the variation of the SCF value
along the circumferential direction of the brace in
case of axial balanced brace loading. Figure 7 reflects the corresponding von Mises stress pattern at
the surface. The maximum SCF value appears in the
brace at node number 22.

Figure 5. FE model of the multiplanar CHS KK-joint using

20-node elements

5.2.2 Loading and boundary conditions

The loads were introduced as unit loads. Two different axial loading conditions have been investigated:
- pure axial balanced brace loading and
- pure chord loading, see Figure 6.
Additional studies showed that in case of in-plane
bending the maximum SCF values are somewhat
below those of the axial loading condition. Therefore
it can be concluded that the axial loading sufficiently
covers also in-plane bending.

Figure 7. FE-results, von Mises stress pattern in case of axially

loaded brace

4.5

4.5

3.0

3.0

1.5

1.5

0.0

0.0

11

16

21

26
31
36
node number

Figure 8. Stress concentration factor (SCF) in circumferential

direction of the brace, brace loading

5.2.4 Influence of Weld Shape

For critical connections in terms of fatigue and
where the wall thickness is large, full penetration
welds should be used. However, a realistic modeling
of the weld shape in circumferential direction is a
very complex task, because of the ever-changing angle between the surface of the chord and the diagonal braces that have to be joined, see figure 9.
Especially in the heel zone of the connection with
a small intersection angle full penetration is difficult
and leads to a much higher throat thickness compared to the crown zone. Two different weld
shapes have been considered:
- a full penetration weld with a weld foot length
tw = 0 (butt weld) and
- a full penetration butt weld with a constant weld
foot length tw, see figure 9.
Figure 10 shows the influence of the these different
types of weld shapes on the stress concentration
factor. The consideration of an additional foot length
tw leads to a reduction of the SCF of about 10 to
15%.

11

16

21

foot length tw = 0

26
31
36
node number
foot length tw > 0

Figure 10. Influence of the weld shape on the stress concentration factor (SCF)

6 FATIGUE VERIFICATION OF THE KK-JOINT

6.1 General
In order to clarify the feasibility of welded joints
for the bridge Korntal-Mnchingen, the fatigue
verification was performed according to Eurocode 3
Part 2 Steel bridges (1997) and the hot-spot fatigue design method recommended for hollow section joints in CIDECT Serial No. 8 (2000).
Three different joints of the aforementioned triangular truss girder were selected. These joints differ
regarding their wall thickness t0 and t1 and loading
condition because of their different positions in longitudinal direction of the bridge girder. Table 3
summarizes the joint dimensions and parameters.
6.2 Stress Range
Fatigue load model 3 (FLM 3) of Eurocode 3
Part 2 (1997) was used to determine the nominal
stress ranges in the corresponding tubular members.
FLM 3 consists of a single 4-axle vehicle truck with
axle loads of 120 kN.
According to Eurocode 3 Part 2 (1997) the resulting stress range is transformed into the damage
equivalent stress rang E,2 related to 2106 cycles in
order to make it comparable to the fatigue strength
C. This is realized by the so-called damage
equivalent factors i, see equation (2). These factors
depend on fatigue relevant parameters as e.g. the
traffic volume, the design life of the bridge or the
Table 3. Joint dimensions and parameters

Figure 9. Different weld shapes

do
t0
d1
t1
g
= d1/d0
= d0/2t0
= t1/t0

joint 1

joint 2

joint 3

457
65
267
45
79.0
0.58
3.52
0.69
60
90

457
55
267
36
65.5
0.58
4.15
0.65
60
90

457
45
267
28
52.8
0.58
5.07
0.62
60
90

shape of the influence line. Table 4 summarizes the

values applied as they are given in Eurocode 3.
E , 2 = 1 2 3 4 nom

(2)

6.3 Fatigue Verification

Using the hot-spot method, the fatigue limit state
can be verified using equation (3):
Ff SCF E , 2 C.hs Mf

(3)

Where Ff and Mf are the partial safety factors for

the fatigue limit state, C.hs is the characteristic
value of the fatigue strength against hot-spot stresses
for 2106 number of cycles and SCF is the stress
concentration factor.
The safety factors were chosen to Ff = 1.0 and
Mf = 1.15.
Values for the fatigue resistance C.hs for CHS
section joints are given in CIDECT Serial No. 8
(2000) by the following formula:
C.hs = 1 3 (12.476 log( N f ) )
+ 0.06 log( N f ) log(16 / t )

(4)

Where Nf is the number of cycles to failure and t

the wall thickness. Although the given formula is
limited to a maximum thickness of t 50 mm it has
been applied in this case.
Based on the aforementioned FE calculations, the
relevant stress concentration factors (SCF) for the
observed three joints are given in Table 5. Herein the
first lower index describes the member (ch = chord,
b = brace) and the second one the loading condition
(ch = chord loading, ax = axial balanced brace loading).
In contrast to the given values in Table 5,
CIDECT Serial No. 8 (2000) recommends a minimum SCF = 2.0 unless it is negligible. The following reasons are given:
- a possible and uncontrollable crack initiation from
the weld root, that is not covered within the SCF
value determined for the weld toe,
- possible deviations of the principle stress direction
from the direction perpendicular to the weld toe
and
- difficulties in FE modeling.
Table 4. Assumed damage equivalent factors i
description
1 span length and shape of influence line;
mid span, L = 40 m
2 traffic volume;
NObs = 0,5106 lorries per year
3 design life of the bridge; N = 100 years
4 number of lanes with heavy traffic; k = 1
= 1234

The recommended minimum SCF value is a reasonable assumption and should especially be applied
for thin sections used for buildings or crane structures. However, the authors believe, that for thick
sections and high quality full penetration welds with
good accessibility SCF values in the range between
1.5 and 2.0 may be acceptable as well.
With the above mentioned assumptions and based
on the SCF values given in Table 5, the fatigue limit
state has been verified for all three joints, thus
clearly indicating, that for the specific type of bridge
also welded CHS joint would have been possible.
7 CONCLUSIONS
This contribution covers the application of circular hollow sections in bridge design and tries to give
an overview about the advantages and disadvantages
of either cast steel or welded joints in order to help
practical engineers in their decisions and to allow for
a further application of circular hollow sections in
bridge design.
Concerning a cost effective and robust design of
CHS joints for bridge structures the following conclusions are drawn:
- cast steel joints should be used if there are several
members to be connected at one joint resulting in a
complex joint geometry. For such cases, the casting
process allows an optimal design of the joint according to the flow of internal forces, increasing
their static and fatigue resistance compared to
welded joints.
- for standard joint types such as e.g. K- or KKjoints that are typically used for triangular truss
girders, welded joints are the more economic solution and, providing a high manufacturing standard
especially for the welds, a possible alternative.
Through detailed investigations connected to a
recently completed CHS truss bridge near Stuttgart,
it has been shown, that for this bridge instead of cast
steel also welded joints would have been a possible
alternative. This conclusion could be drawn from
numerical studies based on FE calculations applying
the hot-spot stress approach for the fatigue assessment of the welded joints.
Table 5. Stress concentrations factors (SCF)

value
2.25

SCF

chord
KK
ch ,ax

SCF

0.63
1.0
1.0
1.41

brace loading

joint 1
joint 2
joint 3

1.99
2.06
2.08

chord loading

brace

chord

brace

SCFbKK
,ax

SCFchKK,ch

SCFbKK
,ch

1.68
1.78
1.85

1.40
1.39
1.37

0.30
0.36
0.41

Furthermore, these studies clearly indicated that

for a wide application of cost effective and robust
welded CHS joints, the currently existing design
guide CIDECT Serial No. 8 (2000) should be adjusted to the specific situation of bridge structures,
e.g. by extending the parameter range of the SCF
values or providing values for the fatigue resistance
also for a large wall thickness.
8 PREFERENCES, SYMBOLS AND UNITS
ANSYS Rev. 5.7. ANSYS Inc., Southpointe, Technnology
Drive, Canonsburg, PA 15317.
Comit International pour le Dveloppement et ltude de la
Construction Tubulaire (CIDECT) 1991: Design Guide for
Circular Hollow Section (CHS) Joints under Predominantly
Static Loading. Construction With Hollow Steel Sections.
Serial No. 1. Verlag TV Rheinland, Cologne, Germany.
Comit International pour le Dveloppement et ltude de la
Construction Tubulaire (CIDECT) 2000: Design Guide for
Circular and Rectangular Hollow Section Welded Joints
under Fatigue Loading. Construction With Hollow Steel
Sections, Serial No. 8. Verlag TV Rheinland, Cologne,
Germany.
Dauner, H.-G. 1998. Der Viadukt von Lully. Eine Neuheit im
Verbundbrckenbau. Stahlbau 67, Vol. 1, pp. 1-14.
Eurocode 3 2002: Design of steel structures - Part 1.9: Fatigue.
Draft, 7 August 2002. European Committee for Standardisation.
Eurocode 3 1997. Design of Steel Structures - Part 2: Steel
Bridges. European Committee for Standardisation.
German code (DIN 1690) 1991: Technische Lieferbedingungen
fr Gustcke aus metallischen Werkstoffen. Ergnzende
Festlegungen fr Stahlgu fr hher beanspruchte Armaturen. DIN. Ausgabe: 1991-01.
Kuhlmann, U., Gnther, H.-P., Saul, R., Hderle, M.-U. & Stuba, G. 2002. Zur Anwendung geschweiter Hohlprofilverbindungen im Brckenbau. Stahlbau 71,
Vol. 7,
pp. 507-515.
Mang, F. & Herion, S. 2001. Gu im Bauwesen. Kuhlmann, U.
(ed.): Stahlbaukalender 2001. Berlin: Ernst & Sohn,
pp. 625-667.
Niemi, E. 1992. Recommendations concerning stress determination for fatigue analysis of welded components. IIW,
Document No. XIII-1458-92/XV-797-92, 1992.
Romeijn, A. 1994. Stress and Strain concentration factors of
welded multiplanar tubular joints. PhD-Thesis, Delft,
The Netherlands.
Seifried, G., Angelmaier, V., Wilhelm, G. & Beschorner, K.
1999. Eisenbahnbrcke ber den Humboldthafen in Berlin.
Stahlbau 68, Vol. 7, pp. 511-519.
Schlaich, J., Ptzl, M., Beiche, H., Ehrke, E. & Decker, U.
2000. Die Brcken ber das Nesenbachtal im Zuge der Ostumfahrung StuttgartVaihingen. Beton- und Stahlbetonbau 95, Vol. 11, pp. 678-687.
Schober, H. 2001. Rohrknoten aus Stahlgu. Der Prfingenieur, Vol. 17, Bundesvereinigung der Prfingenieure fr
Bautechnik e.V. (eds.), pp. 16-36.
Schumacher, A., Nussbaumer, A. & Hirt, M.A. 2001. Fatigue
behaviour of Welded Circular Hollow Section (CHS) joints
in bridges. Puthli, R. & Herion, S. (eds.): Tubular Structures
IX, Swets & Zeitlinger, Lisse, pp. 291-297.
Stuba, G. 2001. Zur Anwendung geschweiter Hohlprofilknoten im Brckenbau. Universitt Stuttgart, Institut fr Konstruktion und Entwurf, Diploma-Thesis.

9 ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors would like to express their gratitude
to Mr. G. Stuba who did the FE-Analysis within his
diploma-thesis.