GUIDE FOR HEAT-STRAIGHTENING OF DAMAGED

STEEL BRIDGE MEMBERS

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 History of Heat Straightening

Damage caused by overload, vehicle impact,

handling, earthquake, or fire is a perennial
problem associated with steel bridge structures. For almost half a century, heatstraightening techniques have been applied
to bends and distortions in order to restore
the original shape of steel elements. A few
craftsmen, who have years of experience
with heat straightening, perform the technique in the field with varying degrees of
success. Some of these experts have mastered heat straightening, but the process is
still considered more of an art than a science.

The origins of heat straightening can be

traced to the early days of welding. Steel
fabricators observed how the heat from
welding caused distortion in regular patterns. Some of these individuals began to
experiment with ways to reverse this distortion by heating the steel in specific patterns
to counteract the initial distortion. With experience, some of these technicians developed skills at not only removing weld distortion, but repairing other damage as well.
These heating procedures developed as an
art form passed from one practitioner to the
next.

The ability to repair damaged structural steel members in place, often without
the need for temporary shoring, has generated interest in heat straightening from the
engineering profession. However, engineers
have had to rely primarily on their own
judgment and the advice of experienced
technicians in applying heat-straightening
techniques. Two key questions have often
been raised: Do heat-straightening procedures exist which do not compromise the
structural integrity of the steel? And if so,
how can such repairs be engineered to ensure adequate safety of the repaired structure, both during and after repair? The primary goal of this guide is to answer these
two questions.

During this period, the use of curved

steel members gained popularity for both
practical and aesthetic reasons. Primary examples include horizontally curved bridge
girders and camber to compensate for vertical curve and dead load deflections. Heat
curving techniques were developed for these
applications. While many of the heating
techniques are similar to those used in heat
straightening, there are distinctions between
the two. Heat curving is typically performed on undamaged steel, usually in the
controlled environment of the fabrication
shop, and the typical radius of curvature for
heat-curved members is quite large, meaning that the curvature is usually very gradual. On the other hand, heat straightening is
used on damaged steel in which the yield
stress has been exceeded, and often excessively, well into the strain-hardening range.
Most heat straightening is conducted in the
field, under highly variable weather condi-

This guide is intended for a general

audience ranging from heat-straightening
practitioner, to contractor, to inspector, and
to bridge engineer.

tions, and often with the members at least

partially loaded. These differences mean
that techniques and criteria for heat straightening may sometimes differ substantially
from those of heat curving.
The earliest written information
found was traced to Joseph Holt who defined some of the basic concepts of heat
straightening in an unpublished manuscript
in 1938. Over the years since, more publications began to appear which tended to be
more qualitative than quantitative in nature.
Well into the 1980's, the use of heat
straightening was so little understood that
one-half the States did not allow heatstraightening repair of bridges (Shanafelt
and Horn, 1984). At that time there were
reasons why heat-straightening repair had
not been widely accepted. First, the basic
mechanism of heat-straightening was not
well-understood in that the effects of both
external restraints (jacking) and internal restraints (redundancy) were considered to be
of minor concern rather than fundamental to
the broad application of the process. Second,
as a result of not identifying the importance
of these parameters, there had been little
documentation of the behavior of vee heated
plates subjected to varying degrees of constraint and even less on rolled shapes. Third,
while a fair amount of research indicated
that most material properties are relatively
unaffected by heat straightening, two important aspects had been overlooked: the influence of strain aging on ductility; and residual stress distribution. Finally, the research
information available was predicated almost
entirely on laboratory studies of simple elements. The reported field investigations
were qualitative rather than quantitative and
thus could not serve as a building block for
validating heat straightening. A literature
review of the technical material available

through the late 1980s is available (Avent,

1989). Because of these voids in heatstraightening research, it was indeed true
that the artesian practicing the trade was
much more important than the engineer.
Consequently, heat-straightening repair was
often not considered on engineered structures.
In recent years, considerable research has been conducted to quantify the
heat-straightening process. The technical
data presented here represent a comprehensive evaluation of the heat-straightening
process. A scientific basis is provided
which will enable an engineering evaluation
of heat-straightening repairs. In turn, the
methodology for conducting actual repairs is
also presented.
In the past, heat straightening has
been more art than science. While the fundamental principles and basic methodology
will be presented here, heat straightening is
a skill requiring practice and experience.
The proper placement and sequencing of
heats combined with control of the heating
temperature and jacking forces distinguishes
the expert practitioner.

1.2 Typical Types of Damage

The focus of this guide is on repairing damage to members of steel bridge structures.
However, the principals are applicable to
any type of steel structure. Damage to steel
bridge members may result from a variety of
causes. Among the more frequent are: vehicle impact, uncontrolled distortion during
construction, fire, and earthquake. While
damage in structures may appear random,
certain patterns and characteristics are distinguishable. A convenient way to classify
damage is to define the four fundamental
damage patterns, although typical accidents
often include a combination of these types.
The fundamental damage categories are:

1.2.3 Category T
1.2.1 Category S
This type refers to damage as a result of
bending about the strong or major axis.
For rolled or built-up shapes, the web element is bent about its strong axis with one
flange element in compression and one in
tension. In addition to plastic deformation,
the compression flange and web will sometimes exhibit local buckling due to the high
compressive stresses. A typical example is
shown in Figure 1.

This type refers to damage as a result of torsion or twisting about the longitudinal axis
of a member. For rolled or built-up shapes,
if neither is laterally braced, the flange elements tend to exhibit flexural plastic deformation in opposite directions. The web is
often stressed at levels below yield. If one
flange is constrained (such as the case of a
composite bridge girder), then the unconstrained flange element is subjected to plastic deformation and yielding may also occur
in the web. Examples are shown in Figure
3.
1.2.4 Category L
This category includes damage that is localized in nature. Local flange or web buckles,
web crippling and damage at bracing locations, and bends or crimps in plate elements
of a cross section typify this behavior. An
example is shown in Figure 4.
1.3 Classification Use
The importance of this classification
system is that well-defined heating patterns
can be established for each category. Once
these patterns are understood, they can be
used in combination for damage that includes multiple categories.

1.4 Objectives of This Guide

Figure 1. Graphic illustration of Category S damage.

1.2.2 Category W
This category refers to damage as a result of
bending about the weak or minor axis.
For rolled or built-up I-shapes the neutral
axis is usually within, or near, the web.
Consequently, the web may not yield or deform into the inelastic range. If neither is
laterally restrained, the flange elements are
bent about their strong axes and usually exhibit classical flexural yield patterns. Typical examples are shown in Figure 2.

The goals of this manual are to:

Describe and quantify the fundamentals

of the heat straightening process.

Address specific methods for repairing

the basic damage categories.

Provide guidelines for repairing more

complex combinations of the basic damage categories.

Provide detailed technical research data

for engineers and scientists.

Provide guidelines for conducting and

supervising heat-straightening repairs.

(a) Category W damage on a built-up double channel

truss member. The damage was caused by a log falling from a truck on a bridge in North Louisiana.

Provide model specifications for conducting heat-straightening repairs.

(b) Category W damage to main girders during construction of a Louisiana bridge.

Figure 2. Examples of Category W damage.

(a) Category T damage to a composite wide

flange beam. Damage was induced by a jack
as part of an experimental program

(b) Category T damage on a composite bridge girder impacted by an over-height vehicle in Wisconsin.
Figure 3. Examples of Category T damage.

Figure 4. Category L damage showing flange buckles

on wind bracing on Mississippi River Bridge in
Greenville, MS.

2. HEAT STRAIGHTENING
BASICS
2.1 What Is Heat Straightening?
Heat straightening is a repair procedure in
which controlled heat is applied in specific
patterns to the plastically deformed regions
of damaged steel in repetitive heating and
cooling cycles to gradually straighten the
material. The process relies on internal and
external restraints that produce thickening
(or upsetting) during the heating phase and
in-plane contraction during the cooling
phase. Heat straightening is distinguished
from other methods in that force is not used
as the primary instrument of straightening.
Rather, the thermal expansion/contraction is

an unsymmetrical process in which each cycle leads to a gradual straightening trend.

The process is characterized by the following conditions which must be maintained:
1. The temperature of the steel does not
exceed either (a) the lower critical temperature (the lowest temperature at
which molecular changes occur), or (b)
the temper limit for quenched and tempered steels.
2. The stresses produced by applied external forces do not exceed the yield stress
of the steel in its heated condition.
3. Only the regions in the vicinity of the
plastically deformed zones are heated.
When these conditions are met, the

material properties undergo relatively small

changes and the performance of the steel
remains essentially unchanged after heat
straightening.
Properly conducted, heat
straightening is a safe and economical procedure for repairing damaged steel.

process are highly unpredictable and may

result in:

A clear distinction should be made

for two other methods often confused with
heat straightening: hot mechanical straightening and hot working. Hot mechanical
straightening differs from heat straightening
in that external force is applied after heating
to straighten the damage. These applied
forces produce stresses well above yield,
resulting in large movements during a single
heat cycle. Often the member is completely
straightened by the continued application of
a large force during a single cycle. The results of this type of straightening are unpredictable and little research has been conducted on this procedure. Specific concerns
about hot mechanical straightening include:

3. Severe changes in mechanical properties

including a high degree of brittleness

1. Fracture may occur during straightening

2. Material properties may be adversely
affected

1. Fracture during straightening

2. Severe changes in molecular structure
which may not be reversible

4. Buckles, wrinkles, crimps, and other distortions

Hot working should not be used to repair
damaged structural steel.
Some practitioners will tend to overjack and over-heat yet claim to be heat
straightening. The reader is cautioned to be
aware of these distinctions when specifying
heat straightening as opposed to either hot
mechanical straightening or hot working.

2.2 Why Heat Straightening Works

The basic concept of heat straightening is
relatively simple and relies on two distinct
properties of steel:

If steel is stretched or compressed past a

certain limit (usually referred to as
yield), it does not assume its original
shape when released. Rather, it remains
partially elongated or shortened, depending on the direction of the originally applied force.

If steel is heated to relatively modest

temperatures (370-700C or 7001300F), it expands at a predictable rate
and its yield value becomes significantly
lower while at the elevated temperature.

3. Buckles, wrinkles or crimps may result

The Engineer should recognize that hot mechanical straightening is an unproven
method which may lead to damaged or degraded steel. As such, its use should be considered only for non-load carrying elements
when replacement or other methods are not
viable.
Hot working is distinguished from
heat straightening in that both large external
forces and high heat are used. This method
is similar to hot mechanical straightening in
that external forces are used. In addition,
the steel is heated well above the lower critical temperature and often glows cherry red
indicating a temperature above the upper
critical temperature. The results of this

To illustrate how steel can be permanently deformed using these two properties;
consider the short steel bar in Figure 5a.
First, the bar is placed in a fixture, much
stronger than the bar itself, and clamped
snug-tight (Figure 5b). Then the bar is
heated in the shaded portion. As the bar is

heated it tries to expand. However, the fixture prevents expansion in the longitudinal
direction. Thus, the fixture exerts restraining forces on the bar as shown in Figure 5c.
Since the bar is prevented from longitudinal
expansion, it is forced to expand a greater
amount laterally and transversely through
its thickness than in an identical unrestrained bar. Consequently, a bulge will occur in the heated zone. Because the bulge
has been heated, its yield value has been
lowered, resulting in some yielding which
does not occur in the unheated portions.
When the heating source is removed, the
material will cool and contract threedimensionally. The clamp cannot prevent
the bar from contracting longitudinally. As
cooling progresses the bar shortens and the
bulge shrinks. However, a portion of the
bulge remains even after the bar has completely cooled and the bar has shortened
from its original length, Figure 5d. In essence a permanent redistribution of material
has occurred in the heated zone leaving the
bar slightly shorter with a small bulge. This
permanent bulge, or thickening, in the
heated zone is called upsetting. The redistribution of material is referred to as plastic
deformation or plastic flow. The clamping force is often referred to as a restraining
force. Through cycles of clamping, heating,
and cooling, the bar could be shortened significantly.
This simple example illustrates the fundamental principles of heat straightening.
However, most damage in steel members is
much more complex than stretching or
shortening of a bar. Consequently, different
damage conditions require their own unique
heating and restraining patterns.
The purpose of this chapter is to explain the basic techniques used in heat-

straightening. There are three key elements to the heat-straightening process. The
first is to select proper heating patterns and

Figure 5. Conceptual example of shortening a steel

bar.

sequencing to fit the damage. The second is

to properly control the heating temperature,
and rate of heating and cooling. The third is
to provide appropriate restraints during the
heating cycle which can be relaxed or modified during the cooling cycle. The place to
begin a discussion of heat straightening basics is with the first key: proper heating patterns and sequencing.

2.3 Fundamental Heating Patterns

Several types of simple heating patterns exist.
Effective heat straightening results
when these patterns are combined into spe-

cific combinations,. As a starting point in

understanding heat straightening, first consider a flat plate. Most steel bridge members are an assemblage of plate elements
arranged to maximize strength and stiffness
while minimizing material. Once an understanding of the heating patterns for a single
plate is developed, these concepts can be
extended to other shapes. There are several
basic heating patterns used for flat plates.

the width across the vee, so the amount of

upsetting increases from top to bottom of the
vee.

2.3.1 Vee Heat

The vee heat is the most fundamental pattern
used to straighten strong axis (category S)
bends in steel plate elements. As seen in
Figure 6, a typical vee heat starts with a very
small spot heat applied at the apex of the
vee-shaped area using an oxy-fuel torch.
When the desired temperature is reached
(usually around 650C or 1200oF for mild
carbon steel), the torch is advanced progressively in a serpentine motion toward the
base of the vee. This motion is efficient for
progressively heating the vee from top to
bottom. The plate will initially move upward (Figure 6a) as a result of longitudinal
expansion of material above the neutral axis
producing negative bending. The cool material adjacent to the heated area resists the
normal thermal expansion of the steel in the
longitudinal direction. As a result, the
heated material will tend to expand, or upset, to a greater extent through the thickness
of the plate, resulting in plastic flow.
At the completion of the heat, the entire
heated area is at a high and relatively uniform temperature. At this point the plate has
moved downward (Figure 6b) due to longitudinal expansion of material below the neutral axis producing positive bending. As the
steel cools, the material contracts longitudinally to a greater degree than the expansion
during heating. Thus, a net contraction occurs. The net upsetting is proportional to

Figure 6. Stages of movement during vee heat.

This variation produces a closure of the vee.

Bending is produced in an initially straight
member, or straightening occurs (if the plate
is bent in the opposite direction to that of the
straightening movement, Figure 6c). For
many applications, it is most efficient to
utilize a vee that extends over the full depth
of the plate element but, partial depth vees
may be applicable in certain situations.
When using partial depth vees, the open end
should extend to the edge of the element.
The vee depth is varied by placing the apex
at a partial depth location. The most typical
partial depth vees are the three-quarter and
half depth. Applications for partial depth
vees will be discussed in later sections.

Figure 7. Schematic diagram of edge heats used to

heat-curve a beam. (note that line heats are applied about 2 in. from edge for inelastically
stretched edges and thermal cut flanges with small
notches)

2.3.2 Edge Heats.

If a smooth gentle bend is desired, a line
near the edge of the member is heated. The
line may be continuous or intermittent, depending on the degree of curvature desired.
This pattern is often used to heat-curve
rolled shapes in the fabricating shop. A
schematic is shown in Figure 7.
2.3.3 Line Heats.
Line heats are employed to repair a bend in
a plate about its weak axis. Such bends, severe enough to produce yielding of the material, often result in long narrow zones of
yielding referred to as yield lines. A line
heat consists of a single straight pass of the
torch, Figure 8. The restraint in this case is
often provided by an external force although
some movement will occur without external
constraints. This behavior is illustrated in
Figure 9. A line heat is applied to the underside of a plate element subjected to bending moments produced by external forces
(Figure 9a). As the torch is applied and
moved across the plate, the temperature distribution

Figure 8. Line heat in progress on the web of a

wide flange beam.

decreases through the thickness (Figure 9b).

The cool material ahead of the torch constrains thermal expansion, even if external
constraints are not present. Because of the
thermal gradient, more upsetting occurs on
the torch (or hotter) side of the plate. During cooling this side consequently contracts
more, creating a concave movement on the
torch side of the plate similar to that shown
in Figure 9d. Thus, to straighten a plate bent
about its weak axis, the heat should be applied to the convex side of the damaged
plate. The movement can be magnified by
the use of applied forces which produce
bending moments about the yield line (Figure 9c). Referring to a section through the
plate transverse to the line heat (Figure 9c),
the restraining moments tend to prevent
transverse expansion below the plate centerline. In a manner similar to the vee heat
mechanism, the material thus tends to expand through the thickness, or upset.
Upon cooling, the restraining moments tend
to magnify transverse contraction (Figure
9d). The speed of the travel of the torch is
critical as it determines the temperature attained. With proper restraints and a uniform
speed of the torch, a rotation will occur

about the heated line.

straints, this orientation may produce some

2.3.4 Spot Heats.

For a spot heat, a small round area of the
metal is heated by moving the torch in a
slow circular motion increasing the diameter
until the entire area of the metal is heated.
A spot heat causes upsetting of the metal
through the thickness due to the restraint
provided by the cool surrounding material.
On cooling, a spot heat leaves tensile
stresses in all the radial directions across the
heated area. During a spot heat, the torch
should not be held at a particular point for
too long, as the spot may get too hot and
buckling may occur due to excessive thermal expansion on the heated side of the
member. Spot heats are used to repair localized damage such as bulges, dents, bellies,
or dishes in a plate element.
2.3.5 Strip Heats
Strip heats, also called rectangular heats, are
used to remove a bulge in a plate element or
to complement a vee heat. Strip heats are
similar to vee heats and are accomplished in
a like manner. Beginning at the initiation
point, the torch is moved back and forth in a
serpentine fashion across a strip for a desired length, Figures 10 and 11. This pattern
sequentially brings the entire strip to the desired temperature. The orientation can be an
important consideration. The strip heat may
be initiated at the midpoint and moved toward both edges simultaneously using two
torches. This approach would minimize
weak axis bending of the beam shown in
Figure 11a. A second alternative with similar effect is shown in Figure 11b using a
single torch and starting from one side. Depending on the structural configuration, the
strip may also be started at a free edge as
shown in Figure 11c. However, without re-

Figure 9. Schematic of line heat mechanism.

Figure 10. Strip heat in progress with a completed strip heat in the foreground.

weak axis bending. By alternating the initiation point to opposite edges in successive
heating cycles, the weak axis bending can be
minimized.

2.4 Defining Basic Damage Patterns

and Yield Zones
The fundamental damage categories have
previously been defined. A yield pattern is
associated with each damage category. The
yield zone of steel is that area in which inelastic deformation has occurred. It is important to recognize the region of yielding because heat should only be applied in the vicinity of the yield zones. Typical yield
zones are shown in Figure 12.

Figure 11. Schematic of strip heat on the flange of

a rolled beam.

These sketches are schematic to depict the

basic patterns. The yield zones may vary in
length depending on the type of loading and
degree of damage. Often, these zones can
be

Figure 12. Yield zones for basic damage patterns.

Figure 12. Continued.

determined by visual inspection and are

identified by paint peeling or loosened rust
and mill scale. Analytical methods are also
available when necessary to accurately determine yield zones.

2.5 Basic Heating Patterns

The repair of damaged steel members often
requires a combination of vee, strip, line, or
spot heats. A series of such heats, applied
consecutively as a group, is referred to as a
heating pattern. The order in which these
individual heats are conducted is referred to
as the heating sequence. The process of
conducting a complete heating pattern and
allowing it to cool is referred to as a heating
cycle. Structural steel shapes for bridges
can be considered as an assemblage of flat
plates. Almost invariably, damage to these
shapes involves the bending of some of
these plate elements about their own major
axes. Consequently, the heat straightening
of steel begins with the application of vee
heats to such plate elements.
The application of a single vee heat to a flat
plate has already been described. This basic
vee heat is the building block upon which
heat straightening of bridge members rest.
The heating patterns used for the four fundamental damage categories are outlined in
this section for typical rolled shapes.
The yield zone for category S damage to a wide flange beam is shown in Figure 13 along with the appropriate heating
pattern.
2.5.1 Flat Plate Bent About the Major
Axis (Category S)
The deformed shape of the typical bent plate
is shown in Figure 14. The heating pattern
is the full-depth vee as shown. Because the
net change in curvature after one pattern of
heats is small, cycles of heating and cooling
are required to completely straighten a

Figure 13. Yield zone and vee/strip heat layout for

a category S damage to a rolled beam.

damaged plate. For each cycle, the vee (or

vees) should be moved to a different location in the vicinity of the yield zone region
as suggested by the dashed lines in Figure
14 so that the exact same spot is not continually reheated. More heats should be
placed in the central part of the yield region
and fewer near the extremities to reflect the
difference in damage curvature. This principle applies for all heating patterns in the
following sections.
2.5.2 Structural Members Bent About
Their Strong (Major) Axis (Category S)
As shown in Figure 15, the heating patterns
for these cases consist of a vee and strip heat
combination. For purposes of defining heating patterns, it is convenient to refer to the
elements of a cross section as either primary
or stiffening elements. The primary elements are those damaged by bending about
their major axes, such as the webs in Figure
15. The stiffening elements are those bent
about their minor axes, such as the flanges
in Figure 15. Typically, vee heats are applied to primary elements while strip, line or
no heat at all may be applied to stiffening
elements. For the case under consideration
here, a vee heat is first applied to the web.
Upon completion, a strip heat is applied to
the flange at the open end of the vee.

Figure 14. Plate vee heat pattern over yield zone.

Figure 15. Heating patterns for wide flange beams

and channels bent about their major axes
(Category S).

The width of the strip equals the width of

the vee at the point of intersection. This
procedure allows the vee to close during
cooling without restraint from the stiffening
element. No heat is applied to the flange at
the apex of the vee. This vee/strip combination is repeated by shifting over the vicinity
of the yield zone until the member is
straight.
2.5.3 Structural Members Bent About
Their Weak (Minor) Axes (Category W)
The heating pattern for these cases is similar
to the previous case but note the primary

and stiffening elements are reversed. The

vee heat is first applied to both flanges (either simultaneously or one at a time) as
shown in Figure 16. After heating these
primary elements, a strip heat is applied to
the web. The only exception is that no strip
heat is applied to stiffening elements located
adjacent to the apex of a vee heated element
since this element offers little restraint to the
closing of the vee during cooling. Note that
the width of the strip heat is equal to the
width of the vee heat at the point of intersection. For all cases the pattern is repeated by
shifting within the vicinity of the yield zone
until the member is straight.
2.5.4 Structural Members Subject to
Twisting Damage (Category T)
The heating pattern for this damage case is
shown in Figure 17. The vees on the top
and bottom flange are reversed to reflect the
different directions of curvature of the opposite flanges. The vee heats are applied first
and then the strip heat is applied. Note that
for the channel, the strip heat need only be
applied to half depth. This half depth strip
allows the lower flange vee to close with
minimal restraint from the web.

Figure 16. Heating patterns for wide flanges and

channels bent about their minor axes
(Category W).

Figure 17. Wide flanges and channels with twisting damage (Category T).

Figure 18. Typical heating patterns for local damage.

Figure 19. Heating patterns for angles.

2.5.5 Flanges and Webs with Local Buckles (Category L)

A local buckle or bulge reflects an elongation of material. Restoration requires the
bulging area to be shortened. A series of
vee or line heats can be used for this purpose
as shown in fig. 18. These vees are heated
sequentially across the buckle or around the
bulge. For web bulges either lines or vees
may be used. If vees are used, they are
spaced so that the open ends of the vees
touch. There is a tendency for practitioners
to over-heat web bulges. For most cases,
too much heat is counter-productive. The
preferred pattern is the line heats in the
spoke/wagon wheel pattern. For the flange
buckle pattern (Figure 18b) either lines or a
combination of lines and vees may be used.
For most cases, the line pattern with few or
no vees tends to be most effective. Since
the flange damage tends to be unsymmetrical, more heating cycles are required on the
side with the most damage.
2.5.6 Angles
Since angles usually do not have an axis of
symmetry, the heating pattern requires special consideration. Typically, the heating
pattern is similar to that of a channel. However, the vee heat on one leg of an angle will
produce components of movement both parallel and perpendicular to the heated leg.
Thus, the heating pattern shown in Figure 19
may need to be alternated on the adjacent
leg. Another method to minimize out-ofplane movement is to use the strip heat patterns suggested in Figure 11.

2.6 Complex Damage

Most damage situations do not fit neatly into
one of the fundamental damage categories.
Rather, the damage is a combination of several of these categories. To repair these
more complex cases, the damage should be

viewed as a combination of the fundamental cases. The approach is to preplan the

entire set of sequences, starting with the
component of damage that is most severe.
As straightening progresses, the process is
redirected to other components, minimizing
overlaps that counteract or unnecessarily
reheat areas. By focusing on the fundamental damage categories in sequence, complex
damage can be repaired by using the basic
heating patterns described in the previous
sections.

2.7 Equipment and Its Use

The primary equipment utilized for heat
straightening is a heating torch. The heat
source is typically an oxygen-fuel mixture.
Typical fuels include acetylene, propane,
and natural gas. The appropriate fuel is
mixed with oxygen under pressure at the
nozzle to produce a proper heating flame. A
regulator is used to reduce pressures to
working levels of 100-140 kPa (15-20 psi).
Either a single or a multiple orifice tip may
be used. The size and type is dictated by the
fuel selected and thickness of material to be
heated. A No. 8 single orifice tip is generally satisfactory for thicknesses up to 20-25
mm (3/4 or 1 in) with acetylene. For thinner
material a smaller tip is recommended. If
heavy sections are being heated, a single
orifice tip may not be adequate. For such
cases a rosebud or multiple orifice tip is recommended. The size may vary depending
on the material thickness. The determining
factor is the ability to raise the through-thethickness steel temperature to the specified
level. Note that whether single or multiple

orifice, the torch should be a heating torch

and not a cutting torch. The oxyacetylene
fuel is preferred by many because it is a
"hot" fuel. However, this fuel is also highly
volatile. Some prefer a propane fuel, which
is safer to handle. Since it does not burn as
hot, a larger tip or rosebud orifice may be
required. In either case the key is to be able
to quickly heat a small area. Torch size and
fuel must be adjusted to meet these criteria.

2.8 Safety Considerations

The fuel used in heat straightening is volatile and dangerous. Fuel tanks should always be handled with extreme care. Safety
precautions include:

Always place a protective cap on head of

each tank before transporting. Always
secure tanks prior to heat straightening.

Examine tanks for damage prior to each

use.

Check lines and fixtures for leaks or

damage prior to each use and that proper
check valves are installed.

In addition, the technician using the

torch must be safety conscious at all times.
Precautions include:

Wear protective goggles while heating (a

no. 3 lens is recommended).

Be careful of where the lighted torch is

pointed at all times.

Wear protective gloves and clothing.

Always be in a stable, secure position

prior to opening valves and lighting the
torch.

Follow proper procedures when using

scaffolding and use safety harnesses
when working above the ground. Secure
tanks and hoses in safe positions prior
to heat straightening.

2.9 Temperature Control

One of the most important and yet difficultto-control parameters of heat straightening is
the temperature of the heated metal. Factors
affecting the temperature include size and
type of the torch orifice, intensity of the
flame, speed of torch movement, and thickness and configuration of the member. Assuming that adequate control of the applied
temperature is maintained, the question
arises as to what temperature produces the
best results in heat straightening without altering the material properties. Early investigators had different opinions on temperature
control. However, more recent comprehensive testing programs have shown that the
plastic rotation produced is directly proportional to the heating temperature, up to at
least 870C (1600oF).
The maximum temperature recommended
by most researchers is 650C (1200oF) for
all but quenched and tempered high-strength
steels. Higher temperatures may result in
greater rotation but out-of-plane distortion
becomes likely and surface damage such as
pitting will occur at 760-870C (1400o to
1600o F). Also, temperatures in excess of
approximately 700C (1300oF) (metallurgically referred to as the lower phase transition temperature) may change the molecular
composition, altering material properties
after cooling. (See section 4.1 for a more
detailed discussion justifying these temperature limits.)
The limiting temperature
o
of650C (1200 F) allows for about one hundred degrees of temperature variation, which
was found to be a common range among experienced practitioners. AASHTO/AWS
D1.5 (1996) specifies maximum heating
temperatures of 590C (1100F) for
quenched and tempered (Q&T) steels and
650C (1200F) for all others.

For A514 and non-HPS A709 (grades 100

and 100W), a minimum tempering temperature of 620C (1150F) is required. Thus,
the 590C (1100F) limit provides a 30C
(50F) safety factor. However, for Q & T
A709 Grade 70W the specified minimum
tempering temperature is 590C (1100F).
A maximum heating temperature of 565C
(1050F) is recommended for this grade to
provide a 30C (50F) safety factor and to
avoid property changes. HPS Grade 70W
produced by thermo-mechanically controlled processing (TMCP) is not Q % T, so
650C (1200F) applies.
To control the temperature, the speed
of the torch movement and the size of the
orifice must be adjusted for different thicknesses of material. However, as long as the
temperature is rapidly achieved at the appropriate level, the contraction effect will be
similar. Various methods can be used to
monitor temperature during heating. Principal among these include: visual observation
of color of the steel (see 2.11.3); use of special temperature sensing crayons or pyrometers; and infrared electronic temperature
sensing devices.

2.10 Restraining Forces

The term "restraining forces" can refer to
either externally applied forces or internal
redundancy and self-weight. These forces,
when properly utilized, can expedite the
straightening process. However, if improperly applied, restraining forces can hinder or
even prevent straightening. In its simplest
terms, the effect of restraining forces can be
explained by considering the previous plate
element as shown in Figure 6. The basic
mechanism of heat straightening is to create
plastic flow, causing expansion through the
thickness (upsetting) during the heating
phase, followed by elastic longitudinal contraction during the cooling phase. This up-

setting can be accomplished in two ways.

First, as the heat progresses toward the base
of the vee, the cool material ahead of the
torch prevents complete longitudinal expansion of the heated material, thus forcing upsetting through the thickness. However, as
shown in Figure 6, some local longitudinal
expansion occurs because the surrounding
cool material does not offer perfect confinement. After cooling, the damage induced distortion is reduced in proportion to
the confinement level from the internal restraints.
A second method of producing the
desired upsetting (usually used in conjunction with the vee heat) is to provide a restraining force. The role of the restraining
force is to reduce or prevent longitudinal
plate movements associated with expansion
during the heating phase. For example, if a
restraining force is applied as shown in Figure 6, the upsetting effect will be increased
by constricting the free longitudinal expansion at the open end of the vee. A restraining force is usually applied externally, producing a bending moment tending to close
the vee. Caution must be used in applying
external forces, since over-jacking may result in fracture of the member. To minimize
the cracking potential, it is recommended
that an external force be calculated and set
prior to actual heating and not be increased
until the cooling phase of the cycle is complete.
In essence, a restraining force acts in
a similar manner to the cool material ahead
of the vee heat torch movement. The material behavior can be viewed as shown in
Figure 20. A small element from a plate,
when constrained in the x-direction and
heated, will expand and flow plastically
primarily through the thickness (Figure
20c).

Secondary plastic flow will occur in

the y-direction. However, this movement
will be small in comparison with that of the
z-direction, because the plate is much thinner than its y-dimension and offers less restraint to plastic flow. Upon cooling with
unrestrained contraction, the final configuration of the element will be smaller in the xdirection and thicker in the z-direction (Figure 20d) than its original size. Regardless of
the cause of the constraint, either cooler adjacent material, self weight, or an external
restraining force, the plastic flow occurs in
an identical manner.
Sometimes the structure itself provides additional restraint through redundancy. For example, if the simply supported
beam depicted in Figure 6 were fixed at the
supports, the member stiffness increases by
33 percent. This increased stiffness would
provide additional restraint over the simply
supported case.
In order to stay within the criteria for
heat straightening, the restraint forces must
not produce stresses greater than yield in the
heated zone. At a heating temperature of
650C (1200oF), the yield stress is reduced
by approximately 50%. Therefore, a restraining force producing stresses of 50%
yield (at ambient temperature) in the heated
section would result in stresses at near initial
yield when heated. Anything higher pushes
the procedure into the hot mechanical
straightening range. Therefore limit forces
due to self-weight and applied restraint to
those producing a maximum moment of
50% of the member capacity (in the heated
area) at ambient temperature. This recommendation is somewhat conservative since
the entire cross section is never at 650C
(1200oF). Rather, just the immediate area
around the torch is at that temperature and
the remainder of the cross section has already begun to cool (behind the torch) or is

not yet heated (ahead of the torch). Thus,

limiting the moment to 50% of member capacity keeps the procedure within the heat
straightening zone. Another reason for limiting the force is that higher jacking forces
increase the risk of fracture. This aspect is
discussed in section 4.4.
In light of this, a set of criteria for
restrain forces can be developed. These criteria apply for internal as well as external
constraints.
1. Constraints should be passive during the
heating phase; that is, they should be applied before heating and not increased
by external means during heating or
cooling.
2. Constraints should not impede contraction during the cooling phase.
3. Constraints should not cause local bucking of the compression element during
the heating phase.
4. Constraints should not produce an unstable structure by either the formation
of plastic hinges or member instability
during the procedure.
5. Constraints should be limited such that
the maximum moment in the heated
zone does not cause stresses that exceed
50% of yield at ambient temperature.
From a practical viewpoint, these criteria
mean that (a) the vee angle should be kept
small enough to avoid local buckling, (b) the
external restraining forces must be applied
before heating and be self-relieving as contraction occurs, and (c) the maximum level
of any externally applied forces must be
based on a structural analysis of the complete structure that includes the reduced
strength and stiffness of a member due to the
heating effects.

2.11 Practical Considerations

This description of the heat straightening
process provides the basic methodology.
However, the proper application of heat is a
skill requiring practice and experience: at
this juncture, the art of heat straightening
meets the technology. The practitioner
needs to understand the variables involved
in the process and how to control them.
Some of the more important variables are
discussed here.
2.11.1 Torch Tip Size and Intensity
The amount of heat applied to a steel surface
is a function of the type of fuel, the number
and size of the orifices, the fuel pressure and
resulting heat output at the nozzle tip. Selecting the appropriate tip size is primarily a
function of the thickness of the material.
The goal is to rapidly bring the steel in the
vicinity of the torch tip to the specified temperature, not just at the surface, but throughout the thickness. Once this condition is obtained at the initial heating location, the
torch should be moved along the path at a
rate that brings successive sections of steel
to the specified temperature. A tip that is
too small for the thickness will result in insufficient heat input at the surface that does
not penetrate effectively through the thickness. If the tip is too large, there will be a
tendency to input heat into the region so
quickly that it is difficult to control the temperature and distortion. Table 1 is a general
guide for selecting a tip size. Intensity of
the torch, ambient temperature, steel configuration, access, and fabrication details
influence the choice of tips. Adjustments
can also be made in the torch intensity to
improve the heating response. A hotter
flame is helpful if the configuration of the
steel tends to draw heat away from the spot
of heating. A less intense flame allows for a

slower pace as the torch is moved along the

path. The intensity may be adjusted so as to
compensate for variables encountered in the
field.
2.11.2 Material configuration
The pace of moving the torch along the path
will be a function of the configuration of the
member, location of damage and pattern selected. At the initiation of heating, the torch
typically remains on a single spot as the
temperature rises. Once the heating temperature is reached, a steady movement
along the path of heating can usually be
maintained. Practice heats will allow technicians to develop a feel for how to vary the
torch speed over various configurations.
Attachments such as stiffeners may serve as
a heat sink requiring the slowing of the torch
movement over certain zones. One typical
example is the heating of the flange of a
rolled beam where the web-flange juncture
must be heated more slowly since the web
draws heat away from the flange.
Sometimes the pace must be quickened to
maintain a uniform heat. A common example is the conclusion of a vee heat at a free
edge. By the last pass along that edge, the
wave of heat moving down the vee almost
overtakes the torch. As a result, the last
pass is usually conducted very quickly.
2.11.3 Judging the Temperature
In theory, control of temperature may seem
easy: watch the color of the steel and use
temperature crayons. In practice, temperature control is quite difficult. First, the satiny silver color of steel indicating 650C
(1200F) is often obscured. The torch flame
often reacts with surface impurities including paint, oil or previous temperature crayon
marks themselves. When the flame hits
these, it may burn bright yellow or orange
and hide the surface near the tip. Addition-

ally, the surface temperature directly under

the flame will briefly exceed specified limits
in order to convey heat into the metal.
Therefore, temperature should not be
checked until the flame leaves the area for a
3 to 5 second soak time. The available
light also influences observations. In daylight or bright indoor light, the silver color is
easier to read and no dull red can be seen.
However, in dark shadow zones or on overcast days or with limited artificial light, the
steel will emit a dull red glow at the same
temperature. No. 3 goggles may mask subtle colors so an observer without goggles
may be needed. As a general rule, if red is
visible in normal lighting, the steel is too
hot. When heat straightening is done properly, the steel is not heated above its lower
phase transition temperature and its properties will not change significantly. Overheating may create brittle, fracture sensitive
zones, which could result in a sudden failure. Constant attention is required to maintain the heating temperature in the correct
range. Practice is essential to recognize and
control the temperature.
2.11.4 Jacking Forces
Earlier, a clear distinction was made between hot mechanical straightening and heat
straightening. The technique of hot mechanical straightening consists of lowering
the yield strength by heating and then applying sufficient jacking loads in a single application to straighten the damage by inelastically deforming the section. Heat straightening on the other hand, requires that the
restraining forces result in stresses not exceeding yield at the elevated temperature.
Movement occurs as a result of plastic deformations during contraction, not by mechanical overload. Therefore, initial restraining forces are an integral part of heat
straightening.

First, one should know how much external

force is being applied to the system. Thus,
all jacks should be gauged and calibrated.
Second, the maximum jacking force should
be calculated to insure that over-stress at
elevated temperatures will not occur. Often,
these computations require a structural engineering analysis, but for frequently encountered cases, some rules of thumb can be established. The practitioner must be aware
that over-jacking may cause over-correction,
buckling or a sudden fracture during the
process. It might also result in difficult to
detect micro-cracks which could severely
reduce fatigue resistance.
2.11.5 Heating Patterns
One key to heat straightening is selecting
appropriate heat patterns to fit the yield
zones of the steel. Basic patterns were illustrated in Figures 14-19. Yield zones, where
the steel has inelastically deformed, occur in
regions of sharpest curvature. Some practitioners have a tendency to heat in a broader
zone, but this again is a case of more being
less. Stay with the recommended patterns
and do not expand them. Heat straightening
is a cyclic process and the movement occurs
gradually by contraction during cooling.
Sometimes 20 or more heating cycles may
be required to straighten a damaged member. Since a heating pattern usually covers
only a portion of the yield zone, the pattern
should be shifted on a cycle-by-cycle basis.
The significant portion of a heating pattern
array should be in the yield zone with fewer
heating cycles having patterns near the
edges and more near the center where curvature is the sharpest. Also, do not duplicate
continuous passes through a given zone during one heating cycle. Going back and reheating before the material has cooled interrupts the contraction process. The heat
straightening

Figure 20. Characteristics of plastic flow and restraint during heat straightening.
Table 1. Recommended torch tips for various material thicknesses.

Steel Thickness
(in)
(mm)
6
<
3/8
10

13
5/8
16

20
1
25
2

50

3
>4

75
100

Orifice Type

Size

Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Rosebud
Single
Rosebud
Rosebud
Rosebud

3
4
5
7
8
8
3
8
4
5
5

predictability and effectiveness is consequently reduced.

2.11.6 Sequencing of Heats
When a combination of vee, strip and/or line
heats are used, the order of heating is referred to as the sequence. The sequencing
of heats may be important in some straightening operations. However, little research
has been conducted to verify its effects.
Some practitioners feel that proper sequencing will accelerate the straightening and help
keep residual stresses to a minimum. Consider the case of an I beam with Category S
damage requiring a vee heat in the web and
a strip heat in the flange as shown in Figure
15.
A common sequence is to heat the
vee first, followed immediately by the strip.
The available research data and difference
sequences used in practice indicates that
more than one sequence can be successful.
At this time there is not adequate documentation to mandate one sequence for a particular heating pattern. The experience of
the practitioner is the most reliable guide to
proper sequencing. The sequencing patterns
shown in this manual are based on those often successfully used in practice.
2.11.7 Lack of Movement
One of the more perplexing aspects of heat
straightening is that sometimes there is no
movement. Should this happen, perform
several cycles, making sure to shift to new
locations within the yield zone after each
cycle. Sometimes there is an existing residual stress pattern or restraint imposed by the
structure tending to oppose movement. Several heating cycles will tend to redistribute
or dissipate these opposing stresses and may
lead to the desired movement. Should the
problem persist, the jacking forces may be
too low. A re-analysis of the jacking layout
is recommended, particularly in light of re-

dundancies that may exist. Finally, check

the heating patterns to insure they are consistent with the damage. For example, neglecting to heat all separate yield zones during one heat cycle could prevent movement.
The key point is that if the steel doesnt
move, there is a reason. It is a matter of
finding the reason. Difficult problems may
require a consultant more experienced in
heat straightening or replacement of the
element. Over-heating or over-jacking is
not a solution.
2.11.8 Cooling the Steel
Ambient air cooling is the safest method.
Rapid cooling is dangerous if the steel has
been over-heated and may produce brittle
hot spots. However, once the steel has
cooled below the lower phase transition
temperature, rapid cooling is not harmful.
Many practitioners allow the surface of the
steel to cool below 315C (600F) prior to
accelerating cooling. Such a surface temperature reduction insures that the interior
steel temperature has dropped. One approach to accelerated cooling is to use compressed air blown on the heated surfaces.
Faster cooling can be obtained with water
mist cooling. However, the steam generated
could result in burns and the water runoff
could lead to a clean-up problem especially
if it covers areas which must be subsequently heated. The following cautionary
measures should be taken when considering
this option: (1) a mist applicator which allows the technician to remain at a safe distance; (2) protective clothing and goggles;
and (3) a method for safely disposing of the
waste water.

3. ASSESSING, PLANNING
AND CONDUCTING
SUCCESSFUL REPAIRS

designing, evaluating alternate repair or

replacement schemes, and finally, providing
complete details and specifications for the
system selected.

As with other types of repair, a successful

heat-straightening repair requires assessment, planning and design. Several procedures should be considered as part of the
process. Critical aspects include: determination of degree of damage, location of yield
zones and regions of maximum strain, limitations for heat-straightening repair, selection of heating patterns, and selection of
jacking restraints. Each requires the exercise of engineering judgment. Outlined in
this chapter are some key aspects of assessing, planning and designing a repair. One of
the primary keys is ongoing coordination
between the engineer, field supervisor or
inspector, and the contractor conducting the
repair.

Heat-straightening repair is not the solution

for every damage situation. The engineer's
role is to assess its specific applicability.
Aspects to consider are: current condition of
the rest of the structure and other anticipated
repairs, degree of damage, presence of fractures, cause of damage and likelihood of repetitive damage, accessibility, and the repair
methods impact on material properties.
Once the heat straightening alternative is
selected, then the repair parameters such as
traffic control, contractor access and work
areas, permitted hours of work, typical heating patterns, maximum restraining forces
and locations, and maximum heating temperature must be chosen. Finally, plans and
specifications should be developed which
generally define how the repair is to be accomplished.

3.1 Role of Engineer, Inspector and

Contractor
The engineer is responsible for selecting the
most appropriate repair technique for the
specific damage. Alternatives must be
evaluated and the most effective solution
determined. The key considerations include: cost, implementability, adequate restoration of strength, longevity of repair, time
to complete repair, aesthetics, and impact on
traffic. These aspects constitute the concept
referred to as design.
Although frequently overlooked, repairs
should be designed in a similar manner to
new structures. The typical process includes:
selecting a trial repair scheme, conducting a
structural analysis (which may require assumptions of certain geometric or material
properties), defining the parameters of the
repair (or verifying the capacity after repair), possibly re-analyzing and re-

Since most heat-straightening repairs are

conducted by contractors, the field inspector, representing the bridge owner, has major responsibilities to insure that the repair is
being conducted according to plans and
specifications. Of particular importance is
insuring that procedures are followed which
are not detrimental to the steel.
The third member of the team is the contractor who actually executes the repair. The
ultimate success of the project hinges on the
skills and understanding for the project by
the contractors personnel. While others
may have designed the repair plan, the details of execution lie with the contractor.
Important considerations may include: (1)
scaffolding arrangements; (2) selection of
proper heating equipment; (3) implementing
the restraint plan with appropriate jacks and
come-alongs; (4) placing the heats in proper

patterns and sequences; and (5) analyzing

the progress of the repair. The contractor
must be alert to the response of the structure
and be prepared to suggest changes to ensure stability and expedite the process. In
spite of our current knowledge and analytical capabilities, movements during heat
straightening cannot always be predicted
accurately
The primary reasons for this difficulty are
that: (1) damage patterns are often a complex mixture of the idealized cases and require experience to determine the details of
the heating process; and (2) residual stresses
and moments which may have been locked
into the structure during both original construction and also the damage phase are difficult to predict and may prevent or increase
the expected movement. The contractor
must be able to assess the reaction of the
structure to the planned repair and suggest
modifications if the structure is not performing properly. These modifications may
range from changes in heating patterns and
jacking arrangements to decisions on
whether to remove secondary or bracing
members during the repair. Perhaps most
important is that the engineer, the inspector
and the contractor maintain open and clear
channels of communication. This interaction of the three key players in a heatstraightening repair will go a long ways toward insuring a successful project.

3.2 Keys to a Successful Repair

A successful repair requires the control and
selection of certain specific parameters. The
first key is the selection of the heating patterns and sequences. The combination of
vee, line and strip heats must be chosen to
fit the damage patterns. Heat should only be
applied in the vicinity of those regions in
which yielding of the material have occurred. Typically, vee heats should be rela-

tively narrow. A good rule of thumb is to

limit the open end of the vee to 250 mm (10
in) for one inch thick plates. However, a
smaller limit should be considered for progressively thinner plates. These limits will
minimize distortion which might occur due
to local buckling of the plate element.
The second key is to control the
heating temperature and rate. Temperatures
should be limited to 650C (1200oF) for
non-quenched and tempered steels, 590C
(1100F) for A514 and A709 Grade 100 and
100W quenched and tempered steels and
565C (1050F) for A709 Grade 70W
quenched and tempered steel. Higher heats
may adversely affect the material properties
of the steel and lead to a weaker structure.
The third key is to control the applied restraining forces during repair. Research has
shown that the use of jacks to apply restraint
can greatly shorten the number of heating
cycles required. However, over-jacking can
result in buckling or a brittle fracture during
or shortly after heat straightening. To prevent such a sudden fracture, as illustrated in
Figure 21, jacking forces should be limited.
The recommended procedure is to calculate
the plastic moment capacity of the damaged
member and limit the moment resulting
from the combination of initial jacking
forces and dead loads to one-half of this
value. If practitioners do not take this precaution, brittle fractures or excess deformation may occur. It is strongly recommended
that jacks be gauged and calibrated, then set
for the maximum force computed. Of
course, the jacking forces should always be
applied in the direction tending to straighten
the beam.

Figure 21. Brittle fracture during heat straightening.

The execution of a heat-straightening

repair that incorporates these keys must begin with the assessment of the damaged
structure.

3.3 Steps in the Assessment Process

Many incidents resulting in damage to steel
bridges produce an emergency situation.
The first step in the rehabilitation process is
a site investigation to assess the degree of
damage and the safety of the existing structure. The purpose of this section is to provide guidelines for damage assessment in
the form of steps required for a complete
assessment. All aspects may not be required
in each case, so judgment must be used
when deciding if, and when, to eliminate a
part of the process.
3.3.1 Initial Inspection and Evaluation for
Safety and Stability
The purpose of the inspection is to protect
the public, employees of the owner and repair personnel. This inspection is often vis-

ual and conducted with special concern for

safety. The major aspects of damage are
recorded and documented with photographs
and measurements. During this inspection,
a preliminary list of repair requirements and
options should be made. Particular attention
should be paid to temporary needs such as
shoring, traffic control, access and other
short-term considerations. A part of this
evaluation may require a review of the design drawings and computations to determine the safety and stability of the bridge.
The specific cause of damage may also influence the final decision on repair and
should be investigated if possible. Typical
damage causes are: (1) over-height or overwide vehicle impact; (2) overweight vehicles or overloads; (3) out-of-control vehicles
or moving systems; (4) mishandling during
construction; (5) fire; (6) blast; (7) earthquakes; (8) support or substructure movement; and (9) wind or water-borne debris.

3.3.2 Detailed Inspection for Specific Defects

Applicability of a heat-straightening repair
depends on the type and degree of damage.
Three aspects should be carefully checked:
(1) signs of fracture; (2) degree of damage;
and (3) material degradation.
3.3.2.1 Signs of Fracture

zones, and determining the included angle

between them, or by establishing a base line
and finding the offsets in the damage zone.
For the first case, tangents from the straight
portions define the angle or degree of damage between the tangents. If the offsets are
taken in the elastic zone on either side of the
damage as shown in Figure 22b, the degree
of damage, d, can be computed.

While some fractures are quite obvious, others may be too small to visually detect.
However, it is important to determine if
such cracks exist since they may propagate
during the heat-straightening process. When
in doubt, one of the following conventional
methods can be utilized: (1) dye penetrant,
(2) magnetic particle, (3) ultrasonic testing,
or (4) radiographic testing.
3.3.2.2 Degree of Damage
Degree of damage can be evaluated using
two different criteria. One is the angle of
damage, d, which is a measure of the
change in curvature. The other is the strain
ratio, , which is a measure of the maximum
strain occurring in the damaged zone. For
either case an evaluation of the degree of
damage requires measurements to be taken.
Two types of damage are quantified by
measurements: (1) Overall bending or twisting of a member; and (2) localized bulges or
sharp crimps. These measurements can be
used to compute the maximum damageinduced strain, , or to determine the angle
of damage, d.
For determining angle of damage,
the usual procedure is to begin by measuring
offsets from a taut line, laser beam or
straight-edge. A typical layout is shown in
Figure 22 showing the definition of d. This
layout may be done by either using the unyielded adjacent regions on either side of the
damage as reference lines, since their curvature is small in comparison to the plastic

Figure 22. Offset measurements to calculate degree of damage and radius of curvature.

Based on measurements taken at the site,

degree of damage can be calculated as follows:
d = tan 1 (

y y4
y 2 y1
) + tan 1 ( 3
)
L1
L2

(Eq. 3.1)

where d is the angle of damage or angle of

permanent deformation at the plastic hinge
and yi is a measured offset as shown in Figure 22b.
In some cases direct measurements
of d can be made from a photograph. If a
photograph can be taken perpendicular to

the plane of curvature, then tangents can be

laid out and measured directly. For small
zones of damage, two straight edges can be
used to produce the tangent intersections.
Again, the angle of damage can be measured
with a protractor. While this method may
seem somewhat crude, a reasonable degree
of accuracy can be obtained.
For the case where the offsets are
taken in the damage zone (see Figure 22a).
The radius of curvature, R, can be approximated as
1 y r 1 2 y r + y r +1
=
R
L2

(Eq. 3.2)

The degree of damage can then be

calculated from:

sin

or

d
L
=
R
2

(Eq. 3.3)

L
R

d = 2 sin 1 ( )

(Eq. 3.4)

Where Lr-1 = Lr = L
Approximations are involved in using these equations. The assumption is
made that the radius of curvature is constant
over the entire length of the damage although it usually varies. If the damage
curve is smooth, this assumption is fairly
accurate. If the curve is irregular, the assumption becomes more approximate. For
highly irregular curvatures, measure only
the worst portion of the damaged region using the three-point offset procedure and the
calculation of radius of curvature from Eq.
3.2. In general, the approaches described
here give an adequate estimate of the radius

of curvature and angle of damage.

In order to calculate the maximum
strain ratio, the maximum curvature should
be measured as previously described.
Shown in Figure 23 is a damaged beam of
uniform curvature. The radius of the bend is
defined as radius of curvature, R. Strain is
proportional to curvature and curvature can
be computed from field measurements, so
the radius of curvature to the yield curvature, Ry, may be expressed as

Ry =

Ey max
Fy

(Eq. 3.5)

where E = modulus of elasticity, Fy = yield

stress, and ymax = the distance from the centroid to the extreme fiber of the element.
The radius of curvature is related to
the strain by

max =

1
y max
R

(Eq. 3.6)

where R is the actual radius of curvature in

the damaged region.
Since damage measurements are
taken at discrete locations, the radius of curvature can be approximated from Eq. 3.2.
Once the smallest radius of curvature is determined in the damaged region, the maximum strain can be computed from Eq. 3.6
and compared to the yield strain

y =

Fy
E

(Eq. 3.7)

From Eqs. 3.6 and 3.7, the strain ratio is

Ey max
RFy

(Eq. 3.8)

Figure 23. Radius of curvature for a damaged

beam of curvature and cord length.

Research data has shown that heat

straightening can be successful on steel with
plastic strains up to 100 times the yield
strain, y. There is reason to believe that
even larger strains can be repaired. However, since no research data exists beyond
the 100y range, engineering judgment is
required.
3.3.2.3 Material Degradation
Certain aspects of material degradation will
influence the decision to heat straighten.
Nicks, gouges and other abrupt discontinuities in the damage zone will be stress risers
during the repair when jacking forces and
heat are applied.
Such discontinuities
should be noted and ground to a smooth
transition prior to heat straightening.
A second concern is exposure to
high temperature (such as a fire) when the
damage occurred. As long as the steel tem-

perature did not exceed either the tempering temperature or the lower phase transition
temperature, no permanent degradation
would be expected from the heating. However, if the damaged steel reached higher
temperatures, metallurgical tests should be
performed to ensure material integrity before heat straightening is applied. Tests that
should be considered include: (1) a chemical
analysis; (2) a grain size and micro structure
analysis; (3) Brinell hardness tests; (4)
Charpy notch toughness tests; and (5) tensile
tests to determine yield, ultimate strength,
and percent elongation. In-place, nondestructive tests (Brinell, appearance) avoid
removing material that must be restored.
Charpy and tensile tests require significant
removal of material straight enough to machine specimens from damaged and undamaged areas for comparative results.
Several visual signs may suggest exposure to high temperature including:
melted mill scale, distortion, black discoloration of steel, and cracking and spalling of
adjacent concrete. Tests can then be conducted at suspicious regions. For example, a
significant increase in Brinell hardness, in
comparison to undamaged areas of the same
member, indicates potential heat damage.
Or, for the Charpy V Notch test, a significant reduction in values over those from an
undamaged specimen may indicate damage.
The most definitive test is usually a metallurgical comparison of microstructure between damaged and undamaged areas. Evidence of partial austenization and recrystallization into finer grain size indicates heating above the lower phase transition temperature.

3.3.2.4 Geometry of the Structure

Often the design drawings are available to
confirm the structures original configuration, design parameters and type(s) of steel..
If drawings are not available, then enough
measurements should be taken so that a
structural analysis can be conducted if required.

3.4 Steps in the Planning and Design

Process
Once the damage assessment is complete,
the repair can be designed. The following
steps may be required as part of this planning and design process:

Analyze the degree of damage and

maximum strains induced.

Conduct a structural analysis of the system in its damaged configuration.

Select applicable regions

straightening repair.

Select heating patterns and parameters.

Develop a constraint plan and design the

jacking restraint configuration.

Estimate heating cycles required to

straighten members.

Prepare plans and specifications.

for

heat

Each of these will be discussed in the following sections

3.4.1 Analysis of Degree of Damage and
Determination of the Maximum Strain
due to Damage

Heat-straightening repairs have been conducted for strains up to 100y, or =100.

Repairs may be successful at even greater
strains. But research studies have not focused on such strains so engineers should
use judgment in straightening beyond this
range.

Fire damage involving high temperature may be an exception to this limit.

If the distortion is due to diminished
strength at high temperature material properties have probably been detrimentally affected. Repair decisions should then be
based on metallurgical analysis and expert
opinion as well as the 100y strain limitation.
3.4.2. Conduct a Structural Analysis of
the System

A structural analysis may be necessary to

evaluate the damaged structure. This analysis serves one of two purposes: (1) to determine the capacity in its damaged configuration for safety purposes; and (2) to compute
residual forces induced by the impact damage which may effect safety and influence
the level of applied restraining forces during
heat straightening (see ref. 1 for an example
of calculating residual moments).
The
analysis can be based on the undeformed
geometry except when the displaced geometry of the frame or truss system (after damage) results in changes in internal forces by
more than 20 percent. However, even if undeformed geometry is used in the analysis,
the deformed geometry should be used when
computing the member stresses. The allowable stresses should be based on the original
properties of the material. When a member
has a significant change in shape due to
damage, the section properties should be
modified when calculating stresses. While
each specific application must be considered
on an individual basis, some general guidelines can be developed. Assuming that no
fractures have occurred, bending and compression members are the most critical to
evaluate. Forces due to applied loads in tension members tend to straighten out-of-plane
damage (and are thus self-correcting), while
such forces in bending or compression

members tend to magnify the damage.

3.4.3. Select Regions Where Heat
Straightening is Applicable

While the primary consideration for allowing heat-straightening repair is the degree of
damage limitation, other criteria may also
influence the decision. Of particular importance is the presence of fractures or previously heat straightened members. A fracture
may necessitate the replacement of part, or
all, of a structural member. In some cases it
may be feasible to heat straighten the suspect region and then repair it in-place by
mechanical connectors. In other cases a
portion of the member may be replaced
while the remainder is repaired by heat
straightening.
An example of combining heat
straightening with replacement is when one
or more girders are impacted by an overheight vehicle. This type of accident often
displaces the bottom flange. If the impact
point is near diaphragms, the diaphragms are
often severely damaged. An example is
shown in Figure 24. It is usually much more
economical to simply replace a diaphragm
rather than taking a lengthy time to
straighten it. The recommended procedure
is to remove the diaphragm (especially if it
would restrain desired movement of the
member) heat straighten the girder, and then
replace the diaphragm with a new one.
In general, heat straightening can be
applied to a wide variety of structural
members. However, some have cautioned
about straightening fracture critical members (Shannafelt and Horn, 1984). Although there is no research data to support
a ban on heat straightening fracture critical
members, practically no fatigue testing has
been conducted. If heating temperature
(including the limits imposed by section
12.12 of the AASHTO/AWS D1.5 Bridge

Welding Code) is carefully controlled,

jacking forces are maintained, and notches
and nicks are ground smooth there is no
reason to expect unusual problems. Additional care is warranted for fracture critical
members to insure that the heat straightening is properly conducted.
3.4.4. Select Heating Patterns and Parameters

The fundamental heating patterns have been

described in Chapter 2. Since typical damage is often a combination of these fundamental damage types, a combination of heating patterns is often required. The key is to
select the combination of patterns to fit the
damage. When in doubt, concentrate on one
of the basic heating patterns at a time. For
example, remove the Category W damage
prior to addressing the Category L damage.
3.4.4.1 Vee Depth
In general, the vee depth should be equal to
the width of the plate being straightened.
Partial depth vees do not reduce membershortening as some have speculated. The
primary application for half depth vees is
the repair of local damage.
3.4.4.2 Vee Angle
The angle of the vee is usually limited by
practical considerations. It should be as
large as practical for the specific application. If the open end of the vee is too wide,
out-of-plane distortion often occurs. Likewise the vee area should be small enough to
heat quickly so that differential cooling is
limited. A good rule of thumb is to limit the
open end of the vee to approximately onethird to one-half the plate width but not
greater than 254 mm (10 in). These limits
translate roughly to 20-30 vee angles. If the
width of the open end of the vee, V, is selected, the vee angle is

Figure 24. Diaphragm damage due to vehicle impact on girder.

= 2 tan 1

V
2W

(Eq. 3.9)

where W is the plate width.

3.4.4.3 Number of Simultaneous Vee Heats
Simultaneous vee heats may be performed
with proper spacing. It is recommended that
the vees be spaced at least one plate width,
W, apart. Also, if multiple plastic hinges
occur, each hinge may be heated simultaneously.
3.4.5. Develop a Constraint Plan

Since jacking forces can expedite repairs,

such forces should be utilized. Jacks should
be located to produce the maximum effect in
the zones of plastic deformation.
Jacks

must be gauged and calibrated prior to use

and properly secured so they will not fall out
as pressure subsides during cooling. The
loads applied to the structure should be controlled and the limiting values established.
A jacking arrangement for a composite
girder bridge is shown in Figure 25. Lateral
forces are utilized on the lower flanges, Figure 25a, while jacks between flanges are
used for local damage, Figure 25b.
For cases where residual moments
are small, the jacking moment, Mj, should
be limited to

Mj

Mp
2

(Eq. 3.10)

(a)

(b)

Figure 25. Jacking arrangements for global and local damage on a composite girder bridge.

where Mp is the plastic moment capacity of

the member or damaged element (such as
the lower flange of a composite girder).
Methods of computing jacking forces for
various member configurations are available
(Avent and Mukai, 1998). Any residual
moments will be relieved during the first
few heats. Rather than computing residual
moments, an alternative is to use a jacking
moment of only Mp during the first two
cycles.
On occasion, a hairline fracture will
occur or become visible during heatstraightening repair. The causes are believed to be: (1) excessive restraining forces
being applied during the heating process; (2)
successive repairs of a re-damaged element;
and/or (3) the growth of micro cracks initiated during initial damage. Item (1) is the
primary cause, so restraining forces should
be specified at safe limits and be monitored
during actual repair. For item (2), heat
straightening material should be limited to
only two damage repairs.

3.4.6 Estimate the Heats Required to

Straighten the Members

The estimate of number of heats provides a

time line for the project. Comparing the estimated movement with the actual movement as it progresses also indicates whether
the heating is being properly done. The
number of heats, n, can be estimated as
n=

d
p

(Eq. 3.11)

where p is the predicted plastic rotation per

heat and d is the degree of damage. Formulas for the plastic rotation associated with
various structural shapes and damage conditions are provided in a later section of this
guide.
3.4.7

Repair Plans and Specifications

The final step is to prepare plans and

specifications for the project. These plans
will be the inspectors guide as well as the

contractors directive. Suggested specifications are given in Appendix I. As noted in

3.1, the owner provides quality assurance
inspectors to verify the contractor complies
with contract requirements. The contractor
is responsible and must provide both quality
control and supervisors to satisfy the contract.

Infrared devices are probably the

most convenient to use. These devices record the temperature with a digital readout
and can be used from a distance to minimize
disruption of the heating process. However,
the torch still needs to be beyond the area or
momentarily removed while taking the reading.

3.5 Supervision of Repairs

To complement the crayons, pyrometer, or infrared devices; visually observe the color of the steel at the torch tip.
Under ordinary daylight conditions, a halo
will form on the steel around the torch tip.
At approximately 650C (1200F) this halo
will have a satiny silver color in daylight or
bright lighting. The observation of color is
particularly useful for the technician using
the torch to maintain a constant temperature.
However, this is the least accurate method
of monitoring temperature and is approximate at best.

3.5.1 Monitoring the temperature

Excessive temperatures may cause surface

damage or lead to increased brittleness.
Temperature can be monitored in several
ways. One of the most accurate is to use
temperature-sensing crayons. These crayons
melt at a specified temperature and are
available in increments as small as 14C
(25oF) (Figure 26). By using two crayons
that bracket the desired heating temperature,
accurate control can be maintained. The
crayons and their marks will burn if exposed
directly to the flame of the torch, and heat
needs a few seconds to penetrate and provide representative readings. Therefore, the
torch must have just exited the area tested or
be momentarily removed (one to four seconds) before the crayons are struck on the
surface. An alternative for thinner material
is to strike the crayon on the backside at the
point being heated.
Another temperature monitoring
method is to use a contact pyrometer. This
device is basically a thermocouple connected to a readout device. It can be used in
a matter similar to a temperature crayon by
placing it on the surface. Because the pyrometer relies on full contact with a smooth
surface, the readings vary with position and
pressure, typically underestimating the actual temperature. It is recommended that the
pyrometer be calibrated with temperature
crayons prior to using.

3.5.2 Controlling restraining forces

Another concern for the heat-straightening

supervisor is the control of restraining
forces. Typically hydraulic jacks are used to
apply restraining forces (see Figure 27 as an
example) and should be calibrated so that
the force being exerted can be determined.
Mechanical jacks should only be permitted
if they are calibrated to control applied
loads. The maximum allowable force should
be computed as part of the design process
and specified in contract documents.

3.5.3 Review of Proposed Heating Patterns

The inspector should review and accept the heating patterns and torch paths
proposed by the contractor. The general

patterns can be part of the repair plan.

However, as heating progresses

there may be a need to modify the patterns.
The inspector needs to understand the principles for using various patterns and may
allow modifications on site as required.

Figure 26. Temperature sensing crayons.

Figure 27. Jacks in place on a Wisconsin bridge.

3.5.5 Safety
3.5.4 Checking Tolerances

A significant concern is the tolerance for the

completed repair. The contract documents
should specify the allowable tolerances and
the inspector should verify that these limits
either have been met or where (and why)
exceptions were accepted. While tolerance
levels may be similar to that of new construction, often a greater tolerance is specified to reduce the number of heat cycles required, especially in restricted areas and to
minimize the cost of the repair. This decision should be made as part of the design
process.
Recommended tolerances are
given in Appendix I.

The above items relate specifically to heat

straightening. The contractors supervisor
exercises normal control of the job site, as
with any construction project, including
monitoring of safety procedures.
3.5.6 Checklist of Procedures for Supervisors and Inspectors

Remember that the goal is not just to

straighten the damage, but to straighten it
safely. There are a number of critical items
for the supervisor to verify as the repair progresses.
1.

Heating patterns are submitted, reviewed and accepted prior to initiating the repair.

2.

Periodically check the jack gauges to

insure that excessive force is not being applied before heating.

3.

Periodically monitor the heating patterns, torch motion and temperature.

4.

Observe the color of the steel at the

torch tip. In normal daylight lighting, the steel should have a satiny
silver halo at the tip. In low light, a
slight dull red glow may be visible.

5.

Establish reference points to measure

movements. A taut line is useful although it must be moved aside during heating. In small regions, a
straight edge may be used. Sometimes it is convenient to measure

from a part of the adjacent structure

which will not move during the
straightening process.
6.

Be sensitive to worker and public

safety issues since work is usually
performed with at least some traffic
nearby. Insure that jacks and other
equipment are secured from falling.

7.

Final acceptance should be based on

meeting the specified dimensional
tolerances without exceeding temperature or restraint limitations.

4. EFFECTS OF HEAT
STRAIGHTENING ON THE
MATERIAL PROPERTIES
OF STEEL
4.1 Introduction
The potential for detrimental effects from
heating damaged steel has limited the implementation of heat straightening. However, with an understanding of the properties
of steel, heat straightening can be safely
conducted. Heating steel reduces the yield
stress as well as the elastic modulus but the
coefficient of thermal expansion increases
with temperature. The behavior of these
parameters complicates attempts to understand the response of steel to heat straightening. In addition to these short-term effects, heat can result in long-term consequences which may be detrimental.
Most structural steel used for bridge
construction in the United States is classified as low carbon, high strength low alloy
(HSLA) or quenched and tempered (Q & T)
steel. At ambient temperature, these steels
have three major constituents: ferrite, cementite and pearlite. The iron-carbon equilibrium diagram shown in Figure 28 illustrates the relationship of these components.
Ferrite consists of iron molecules with no
carbon attached, cementite is an iron-carbon
molecule, (Fe3C); and pearlite is a mixture
of cementite (12 percent) and ferrite (88 percent). A low carbon steel has less than 0.8
percent carbon, too little to develop 100 percent pearlite, resulting in pearlite plus free
ferrite molecules. High carbon steels (carbon content between 0.8 and 2.0 percent)

have more carbon than required to form

pearlite, resulting in steel with partial cementite. Low carbon steels tend to be softer
and more ductile, characteristics of ferrite,
but cementite is hard and brittle so high carbon steels are harder and less ductile, poor
properties for bridges.
Temperatures greater than about
700C (1300F) begin to produce a phase
change in steel. This temperature is often
called the lower critical (or lower phase
transition) temperature. The body centered
cubic molecular structure begins to assume a
face centered cubic form. With this structure, a larger percentage of carbon will be
carried in solution. When steel cools below
the lower critical temperature, it attempts to
return to its body centered structure. Since
this retransformation requires time, rapid
cooling may not permit the complete change
to occur and a hard, brittle phase called
martensite occurs. This form has reduced
ductility and is more sensitive to brittle fracture under repeated loads.
The upper critical (or upper phase
transition) temperature is the level at which
the molecular change in structure is complete. At this temperature (around 815925C or 1500-1700F for most steels, depending on carbon content) the steel assumes the form of a uniform solid solution
called austenite. It is at temperatures between the lower and upper critical that a
wide range of mill hot rolling and working
can occur. As long as the temperature is
lowered slowly in a controlled manner from
these levels, the steel assumes its original
molecular configuration and properties.

Figure 28. Iron-carbon equilibrium diagram.

This temperature control is more difficult to

maintain at a fabrication shop or in the field
when conducting heat straightening repairs.
Consequently, if the temperature during heat
straightening is not kept below the lower
critical temperature, undesirable properties
may be produced during cooling. It is this
concern that has limited the application of
heat straightening in many cases.
A related issue is the question of residual
stresses. When heated steel cools, the surfaces having the most exposure to the cooling environment contract more rapidly. This
unequal contraction produces residual
stresses found in most steel shapes and it is
important to understand how heat straightening affects these patterns. The purpose of
this chapter is to provide a summary of how
heat straightening affects material properties
and residual stresses.

4.2 Residual Stresses in Heatstraightened Steel

Significant residual stresses occur in most
structural steel members. Such stresses usually result from differential shrinkage during
cooling in the manufacture of both rolled
and welded built-up shapes. However, the
cutting and punching process during fabrication may also produce residual stresses. Residual stresses in fabricated steel can be
quite high and may reach 50 percent of yield
for some rolled shapes and approach yield
for some welded members. With one exception, residual stresses have been neglected in
code requirements governing steel design.
The reasons for neglecting residual stresses
relate to two characteristics: (1) The ductility of steel allows for a moderating redistribution of residual stresses when a member is
subjected to large loads, and (2) since residual stresses are self-equilibrating, large
compressive stresses at one location on a
cross section are balanced by tensile stresses
at another location. As a consequence, the
stresses at a specific cross section produced

by applied loads is additive to the residual

stresses at some points and are subtractive at
others so the ultimate strength of a member
is usually not affected. The exception is
compression members in which high residual stresses may reduce the buckling
strength. American design codes account
for residual stresses in compression members by assuming an average residual stress
value of 50 percent of the yield stress. This
assumption may lead to somewhat conservative designs for rolled shapes (which have
smaller residual stresses) and slightly less
conservative designs for welded built-up
shapes (which have larger residual stresses).

European codes have adopted the multiple

column curve approach in which different
formulas are used depending, on the magnitude of residual stresses. For these codes the
level of residual stress affects the design capacity.
Avent, et. al. (2001) conducted research to assess whether heat straightening
produces some negative effects due to residual stresses. The distribution of residual
stresses for vee heated plates is shown in
Figure 29 and those for various heatstraightened rolled shapes are shown in Figures 30-34.

Residual Stress (MPa)

-300

-200

-100

100

200

300

Strip Num ber

7
6
5
4
3

6 D egrees D am age
12-24 Degrees Dam age

2
1
-50 -40 -30 -20 -10

10

20

30

40

50

Residual Stress (ksi)

Figure 29. Residual stress distribution for plates

Figure 30. Typical residual stress distribution for

damaged and then vee heated

a heat straightened angle

Figure 31. Typical residual stress distribution for

a heat straightened angle

Figure 33. Typical residual stress distribution for

a Category S wide flange beam

Figure 32. Typical residual stress distribution for

a heat straightened channel

Figure 34. Typical residual stress distribution for

a Category W heat straightened wide flange beam

In summary, the residual stresses in heatstraightened plates are fairly consistent having maximum compression stresses of about
150 MPa (20 ksi) at the edges and tension
stresses of about one-half that value at the
center of the plate. Residual stresses in
heat-straightened angles and channels tend
to have maximum values approaching yield
in compression at the toes and heel. Relatively high tension stresses are found near
the middle of each leg. Maximum residual
stresses in wide flange beams approach the
yield stress in compression at the flange
edges.
The large residual stresses created
during heat straightening have several implications. First, if the member is a compression element, the high residual stresses
are similar to welded built-up members.
Since U.S. codes use a singe column curve
concept, these members are all treated the
same and no capacity reduction should be
assumed. Second, high tensile residual
stresses reduce the effectiveness of jacking
forces by effectively canceling out compressive stresses in areas where externally applied forces would cause them. Movement
could be reduced or even reversed, if the
jacking force moment does not compensate
for the residual stresses.
Finally, large compression residual
stresses may produce bulges in the compression elements of a cross section during heat
straightening. Special heating patterns and
sequences may be required to prevent this
effect.

4.3 Effect of Heat Straightening on

Material Properties of Steel
Research data (Avent, Mukai and Robinson,
2000) indicate that heat straightening affects
the mechanical properties of steel. Early
researchers used undamaged steel and a

small number of heats to conclude that

property changes after cooling were minimal. However, tests on damaged and subsequently heat-straightened plates and beams
indicate that some property changes may be
of significance. The modulus of elasticity
may decrease by over 25% in some heated
regions.
Yield stress may increase by as
much as 20% in some cases, especially in
the vicinity of the apex of vee heats. Specimens heated for various lengths of time,
cooled both by air and by quenching with a
mist, and subjected to various superimposed
loads and residual stresses have been tested.
None of theses variables had significant effect on the yield stress with the possible exception of the quenched and tempered steel.
In the case of quenching, the yield stress
was, on the average, unchanged from the
original yield. Overall, the data indicates
that the long term effects of the heat
straightening process on yield stress are
small but generally increase it.
Tensile strength also increases but at
only half the rate of yield stress. The ductility as measured by percent elongation typically decreases by one-third.
In general, the fatigue-crack initiation threshold increases with tensile and
yield strengths, but tensile strength increases
in the heat-straightened plates were relatively small, when compared to ductility
losses. Thus, improvement of the fatiguecrack initiation threshold, based solely on
tensile strength could possibly be more than
offset by the reduced stress redistribution
permitted by the ductility loss. Some reduction in the fatigue limit might occur as a result.
Similar to ductility, fracture toughness (a value proportional to the energy consumed during plastic deformation) may de-

crease as a materials yield strength changes

during heat straightening. Research data
indicates that considerable variation may
occur in Charpy vee notch tests before and
after heat straightening. However, no clear
relationships have been established for first
time heat straightening repairs.
Most research on material properties
effects has been limited to strain ratios of
100 or less. This range of strain ratios includes a majority of typical bridge damage.
Of particular significance is that, within this
range, changes in mechanical properties after heat straightening are not a function of
degree of damage as measured by angle of
damage or strain ratio. However, for strain
ratios over 100, yield stress is directly proportional and elongation is inversely proportional to strain ratio. Thus, except for high
degree of damage areas, material properties
should not be the primary determining factor
when contemplating the use of heat straightening.
An important issue is how many
times a girder can be damaged and heat
straightened. Changes in all the material
properties become more evident with the
increasing number of damage/repair cycles.
These changes are particularly significant at
the region associated with the apex of the
vee. After two damage/repair cycles, the
property changes remain relatively modest.
But after four damage cycles, the increase in
yield and tensile strengths and the loss in
ductility were much more pronounced (Figures 35-37). Because the variation in yield is
larger, the gap between yield and tensile
strengths decreases as the number of damage/repair cycles increase. The ratio of
yield-to-tensile strength is around 68% for
undamaged steel. That ratio typically increases to 78% after one damage/repair cycle and to 88% after eight cycles. The elon-

gation after one or two damage/repair cycles (31-32 percent) followed the trend of
results for a single repair with about a onethird reduction. However, for four or eight
cycles the elongation and ductility are proportionally reduced as shown in Figure 37.
This behavior with each damage/repair cycle
results in an increasingly brittle material.
These data illustrate why over-jacking may
result in brittle fracture after a number of
damage/repair cycles in the same zone.
The point at which loss in ductility
becomes dangerous is case-specific. However, the extreme losses encountered in the
repetitively damaged beams show that there
is probably a limit to the number of times
that any given member should be repaired.
Material property changes were usually acceptable after two cycles. Thus, a condition
that is safe to straighten once could usually
be safely straightened twice. The changes
become significantly greater after four and
eight damage/repair cycles, respectively.
These findings are further substantiated by
the fact that during one full-scale study
(Avent and Fadous, 1989), one girder exhibited brittle behavior by cracking during a
heat in its fourth damage/repair cycle.
Based on this research, re-damaged members at the same location should not be subjected to heat straightening more than twice.
Connor, Kaufmann and Urban (2008)
reached the same conclusion in their fullscale testing to evaluate fatigue and fracture
performance.

4.4 Limits on Jacking Force to

Minimize Risk of Fracture
The recommended maximum jacking force
is 50% of the member capacity as discussed
in Section 2.9. The basic concept is to keep
the stresses due to jacking below the yield
stress at the elevated temperature. For bending members the computation of capacity is

straight-forward and computed as the plastic

moment capacity, Mp. While some small
zones of yielding may occur under the conditions of jacking equal to 50% of Mp, the
majority of the cross section remains below
yield. However, when considering local
damage (Category L) or composite girders,
the computation of capacity is not welldefined. For local damage the best way to
determine the capacity is experimentally
such as applying a jacking force in an undamaged low stress area until initial yielding
is reached. For composite girders, refer to
Avent and Mukai (1998) for computation
methods.
Little research has been conducted
on the effects of higher jacking forces.
Avent and Mukai (1998) conducted some
large scale repairs on damaged girders. One
case included using jacking forces producing moments greater than 50% Mp. In this
case, the movements observed during heat
straightening were excessive and indicated
that some hot mechanical straightening had
taken place. During the 7th heating cycle,
the lower flange of the composite beam fractured as shown in Figure 21. The fracture
occurred on edge of the lower flange compressed by the force which induced the damage. Similar fractures have also been observed in actual field repairs. In each case
the fracture occurred on the flange edge
compressed when damaged. During the heat
straightening repair, the jacking force induced tension in the area that fractured.
This case indicates that excessive jacking
forces increase the risk of sudden fractures.
Recent research by Sharma (2005)
has provided insight as to why such fractures occur. A series of plates were bent
about their weak axes and heat straightened
using line heats. Jacking forces producing
plastic moments of 50, 70 and 90 percent of

capacity were used. As expected, the plate

movement during heat straightening was
directly proportional to the level of jacking
force. Material properties tests showed that
the level of jacking force had little effect on
yield stress, tensile strength, modulus of
elasticity, or ductility. However, there were
significant differences in material properties
on the side compressed by damage. Comparing material properties from the areas
placed in tension and compression by the
damage, the compression side had significantly: (1) higher yield stress, (2) lower ductility, and (3) less toughness based on
Charpy tests. These results indicate that the
compressed side is more brittle and thus
more likely to fracture during repair with
large jacking forces.

4.5 Limits on Maximum Damage

Strains
The body of research indicates that
heat straightening can be used without significantly compromising the material for
strain ratios less than 100. Sharma (2005)
also conducted weak axis plate tests that included damaged plates with strain ratios of
65, 150 and 200. He found the following
relationships: (1) plate movement during
heat straightening was inversely proportional to the strain ratio, (2) the increase in
yield stress after heat straightening was directly proportional to the strain ratio, and (3)
ductility after repair was inversely proportional to the strain ratio. This behavior indicates that the likelihood of fracture during
heat straightening is directly proportional to
the strain ratio, particularly when the strain
ratio is greater than 100. Thus, the risk of
fracture increases with strain ratios greater
than 100.

4.6 Fatigue and Fracture Performance

load stress that would result in a fatigue

failure.

Connor, Kaufmann and Urban (2008) conducted the first major study on fatigue and
fracture performance of heat-straightened
steel. Their full-size tests led to the conclusion that damage and repair cycles did not
have a significant effect on fatigue life of
girders at stiffeners and cover plates. However, live load stresses may be magnified by
residual local damage (even within normal
tolerances) after heat straightening. They
recommend stress adjustment factors be applied to ensure that the residual damage will
not cause an unacceptable increase in live

100
90

600

70

500

60

400

50
300

40
30

Top of Vee Heat

20

Bottom of Vee Heat

10

Unheated Heat

200

Middle of Vee Heat

Yield Stress (MPa)

Yield Stress (ksi)

80

100

0
0

Number of Damage/Repair Cycles

Figure 35. Yield stress versus number of damage/repair cycles for heat straightened beam

100

700

90

600

80
70

500

60

400

50

Top of Vee Heat

40

300

Middle of Vee Heat

30

Bottom of Vee Heat

20

Unheated Heat

200

Tensile Stress (MPa)

Tensile Stress (ksi)

110

100

10
0

0
0

Number of Damage/Repair Cycles

Figure 36. Tensile stress versus number of damage/repair cycles for heat straightened beam.

50

Percent Elongation

45
40
35
30
25
20
Top of Vee Heat

15

Middle of Vee Heat

10

Bottom of Vee Heat

Unheated Heat

0
0

Number of Damage/Repair Cycles

Figure 37. Percent elongation versus number of damage/repair cycles for heat straightened beam.

5. HEAT STRAIGHTENING
OF FLAT PLATES
5.1 Introduction
The fundamental element of any structural
steel shape is the flat plate. Damage to
bridge structures involves combinations of
these plate elements, bent about their strong
and/or weak axes. Understanding the behavior of plates during heat straightening is
fundamental to the heat straightening process.
Two studies (Roeder, 1986 and
Avent, et. al. 2000)) helped define the factors affecting heat straightening of plates.
As a result the following observations can
be made.

650C (1,200F) is a practical and safe

upper temperature limit for non-Q & T
steel.

Changes in material properties are relatively small when the temperature remains below the phase transition temperature of approximately 720C
(1330F).

Plastic rotation, defined as the change in

angle of tangents located on either side
of the damaged zone of a plate after the
completion of a vee heat, is the basic
measurement of movement during heat
straightening.

The rotation produced by a vee heat on

an otherwise unrestrained plate is directly proportional to vee angle and
heating temperature.

Plastic strain during straightening occurs

primarily within the vee heat region.

Plastic strain is somewhat sensitive to

geometry of the plate. However, much
of this sensitivity can be attributed to

differences in rate of heating and heat

flow.

Due to the difficulty in controlling the

many variables associated with heat
straightening, the magnitude of movements for individual heats may vary
considerably.

Varying the vee depths between 75-100

percent of the plate width has little influence on the plastic rotation of a vee
heated plate.

Plate thickness and width do not significantly influence plastic rotations, provided sufficient heat is applied to generate a specified consistent temperature
within the vee.

External restraints can significantly increase the movements per vee heat with
the movement being related to the restraint force.

The movement associated with each of

the initial heat cycles is often larger than
subsequent cycles due to internal restraints developed when a member is
damaged severely enough to require a
high number of cycles.

Axial forces can be used as constraining

forces, but bending moments are usually
more efficient in producing movement.

The influence of yield stress on plastic

rotation is small for mild steel having an
Fy between 230-345 MPa (33-50 ksi).

5.2 Variables Affecting the Movement of Heat-straightened Plates

5.2.1 Temperature

One of the most important and yet difficult

to control parameters of heat straightening is
the through-thickness temperature of the

heated metal. Factors affecting the temperature include: number and size of torch orifices, temperature of the flame, speed of
torch movement, and thickness of the plate.
Studies have shown that knowledgeable
practitioners commonly misjudged the heating temperature by 55C (100oF) and, in
some cases, as much as 110C (200oF).
Thus, there is considerable variability in
temperature control, even with experienced
users.

and surface damage such as pitting will occur at 760-870C (1400-1600oF). Also,
temperatures in exceeding 700C (1300oF)
may cause molecular composition changes
which could detrimentally change material
properties after cooling. The limiting temperature of 650C (1200oF) allows for a
safety factor in this regard.
For the
quenched and tempered steels, the heatstraightening process can be used but the
temperature should be limited to 595C
(1100oF) for A514 and A709 (grades 100
and 100W) and 565C (1050F) for A709
grade 70W to ensure that the properties are
not adversely affected.
5.2.2 Effect of Vee Angle

The results shown in Figure 38 and 39 also

illustrate the effect of the vee angle when
heat straightening. The amount of movement is approximately proportional to the
vee angle.
5.2.3 Restraining Forces

Figure 38. Influence of heating temperature on

plastic rotation for 3/4 depth vee heats and a jacking ratio of 0.16.

The effect of heating temperature

can be seen in Figure 38 in which the heating temperature was varied from 370-815C
(700o to 1500oF) in increments of 56C
(100oF). The results establish a regular progression of increased plastic rotation with
increasing temperature.
The maximum temperature recommended by most researchers is 650C
(1200oF) for all but the quenched and tempered high strength steels. Higher temperatures may result in greater rotation; however, out-of-plane distortion becomes likely

The term "restraining forces" can refer to

externally applied forces, self weight or internal redundancy. These forces, when
properly utilized, can expedite the straightening process. However, if improperly applied, restraining forces can hinder or even
prevent straightening.
The proper procedure for applying a restraining force is to create a moment tending
to compress the stretched area. The ratio of
the moment at the vee due to the jacking
force, Mj, to the plastic moment, Mp, of the
cross section, is Mj/Mp. This term is referred to as the jacking ratio. The effect of
jacking ratios ranging from zero to 50 percent with four different vee angles are
shown in Figure. 39. It can be concluded
from this data that plastic rotation is generally proportional to the jacking ratio and the
proper use of external loads greatly expe-

summation of small steps and considers the

influence of the non-uniform temperature
distribution. This approach is lengthy, is
only possible using computer techniques and
a typical analysis for a single vee heat can
require extensive set up and computer time.

dites the heat-straightening process.

14
13

Plastic Rotation (milliradians)

12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Vee Angle (degrees)

Figure 39. Influence of jacking ratio on average

plastic rotation for 650C (1200F) heating temperatures (lines represent a least squares curve
fit).

In summary, parameters which have

an important influence on the plastic rotations produced by vee heats are: (1) vee angle, (2) steel temperature, and (3) external
restraining force. In the usual range of
three-quarters of the plate width or greater,
the depth of the vee appears to have little
effect.. Likewise, the plate dimensions are
of minor significance as long as the heating
patterns attain the desired temperature.

5.3 Analytical Development

Two general approaches have been used to
develop an analytical procedure for predicting member response during a heatstraightening of a plate damaged by bending
about the major axis. One approach involves finite element/finite strip thermal and
stress analyses including inelastic behavior.
The stress and strain equilibrium is the

The other approach considers the global action of the vee. The goal of the analytical
development is to obtain an equation which
can be used to predict the angle of plastic
rotation produced by a vee heat. Avent, et.
al. (2000) developed this type of model using the following assumptions: (1) longitudinal plastic strain occurs only in the vee
heat zone (and in a reflected vee about the
apex for partial depth vees); (2) at any specified distance from the neutral axis of the
plate, the strains in the longitudinal direction
are constant over the zone of the vee; (3) the
planes defined by the sides of the vee remain planes after heating and rotate about
the apex of the vee; (4) confinement during
heating is not perfect single axis along the
longitudinal direction (i.e., some longitudinal movement during heating is assumed):
(5) the permanent strains occur within the
inner two-thirds of the vee with an effective
vee angle of two-thirds the actual angle, (6)
the plastic rotation varies linearly with jacking ratio, (7) perfect confinement is equivalent to a 20 percent jacking ratio, (8) the
zero jacking force equals 60 percent of the
perfect confinement case and (9) the heating
temperature is 650C (1200oF). The resulting formula for plastic rotation, , (angle
change due to a single vee heat) with zero
jacking force is

= 0.0147 sin

(Eq. 5.1)

where is the vee angle. The jacking force

is incorporated by the introduction of a jack-

ing force factor

Fl = 0.6 + 2

Mj
MP

(Eq. 5.2)

and the plastic rotation is

p = Fl

(Eq. 5.3)

The formula compares well to the experimental data and is the first simple formula
available that includes the parameters of
heating temperature of the steel and magnitude of restraining force (jacking force).
The form of this approach also lends itself to
the behavior of rolled shapes, axially loaded
members, and composite and non-composite
girders.

6. HEAT STRAIGHTENING
ROLLED SHAPES
6.1 Fundamental Damage Patterns
The process of heat straightening damaged
rolled shapes is based on a logical extension
of the straightening of plates. Rolled shapes
can be viewed as an assemblage of flat plate
elements. When damaged, some elements
are bent about their strong axis, some about
their weak axis and some about both. The
overall effect on a member results in damage which is a combination of one or more
of the fundamental damage categories described in Chapter 1.
To develop a methodology for heat
straightening complex damage on rolled
shapes, understanding the behavior of such
shapes when subjected to single fundamental types of damage is necessary. Focusing
on categories S and W, a distinction will be

made between a cross sectionss primary

elements and stiffening elements. The primary elements are the plate elements subjected to bending about their local strong
axes. The stiffening elements are perpendicular to the primary elements and bent
about their own local weak axes.
For example, consider the channel
shown in Figure 40, which has been plastically deformed about its major axis, resulting in Category S damage. The web of this
channel, a plate element bent about its major
axis, is therefore a primary element. The
two flanges are bent about their minor axes
and are thus stiffening elements.
For rolled shapes with flexural damage, the pattern of yielding usually differs
for the primary and stiffening plate elements. Typically, the primary plate elements develop plastic hinges, a state of
stress in which the entire cross-section has
reached yield (Fy): Tensile yield in one region and compressive yield in the other.
The stiffening elements of a damaged rolled
shape may exhibit one of several conditions.
In the first, yielding does not occur because
the stiffening element is located near the
neutral axis of the cross section, e.g., when a
wide flange beam is bent about its minor
axis, the web may not reach yield. In the
second case, the stiffening element is located near the extreme fibers of flexural
yielding (such as the flanges of the channel
shown in Figure 40). In this situation the
flanges yield due to axial stress (either tension or compression). In the third case, the
stiffening element is yielded in weak axis
bending in which a region of yield is formed
as shown in Figure 41. The results are a
narrow strip of flexural yielding often referred to as a yield line.

second is a stress factor. It is obvious that

the shape may influence behavior, but the
stress factor requires an explanation.

Figure 40. Primary and stiffening plate elements

for a channel bent about its major axis (Category
S damage).

With the various patterns of inelastic

deformation which occur in damaged rolled
or built-up shapes, the heating pattern for
repair must be tailored to fit. While the vee
heat is generally used on primary elements
of a section bent about their major axes, the
stiffening elements may require a strip heat,
line heat or no heat at all. Multiple heating
patterns introduce additional variability, so
the time to complete a heat may be considerably longer than heating a single plate.
Considerable cooling may occur at the initial heating locations before the last element
is heated, retarding expected movement due
to increased internal restraints. A good
practice to minimize the heating time is using more than one torch for complex patterns.
In addition to the jacking force factor, the various combinations of plate elements found in structural steel shapes introduces two other parameters that may affect
the members behavior during heat straightening. The first is a shape factor and the

When jacking forces are applied

prior to heat straightening, the distribution
of stress over the heated section due to jacking will vary according to the shape of the
cross section and the restraint conditions.
As the torch moves over the section, the
steel temperature rises and then falls in a
manner somewhat analogous to a wave
moving across calm water. The heat variation produces continuous and complex
changes in the combined stress distribution.
As a consequence, stress distributions may
be quite different between two members of
different configurations.

Figure 41. Weak axis bending resulting in a yield

line in the plate element.

One measure of this effect is the ratio of plastic moment, Mp, to the moment at
initial yield, My. For a constant yield stress
this ratio is Z/S where Z is the plastic section modulus and S is the elastic section
modulus. Since the moment due to jacking
is usually expressed as a percentage of Mp,
the degree of yielding during heating is often a function of this ratio. For example,
Z/S = 1.5 for a rectangular plate and is only
about 1.12 for typical wide flange beams. In
other words, yielding is initiated at twothirds of ultimate capacity for a plate but

does not occur until 90 percent of capacity

for most wide flange members. For a moment due to jacking in the range of 35-50
percent of Mp, some localized yielding will
occur during heat straightening.
The
amount, and consequently the degree of
straightening, will depend on the stress factor as a function of Z/S.
The model for predicting movement
during heat straightening is a modification
of the plate equation, Eq. 5.3. For mild
steel, the equation for plastic rotation of a
structural shape can be expressed as

p = Fl Fs Fa b

(Eq. 6.1)

where F l is the factor associated with the

external jacking force, Fs is a factor reflecting the shape of the cross section, Fa is the
stress factor, and b is the basic plastic rotation factor derived for a rectangular plate
(see Eq. 5.3) and expressed as:

b = 0.0147 sin

(Eq. 6.2)

The stress factor can be written as

2 Z Mj
Fa = 1 2[1 ( )( )]
3 S Mp

(Eq. 6.3)

Where Z/S is the ratio of plastic to elastic

section modulus for bending about the major
axis (except for angles in which the ratio is
multiplied by Fs).
The jacking force factor is identical
to that developed for plates, that is
F l = 0.6 + 2

Mj
Mp

(Eq. 6.4)

The shape factor is

1 bd
Fs = 1 + ( s 2 s )
2 d

(Eq. 6.5)

Where
bs = width of stiffening element;
ds = distance from apex of vee heat on primary member to intersection of stiffening
element; and
d = depth of the vee heated elements (assuming a vee depth (ds) of at least threequarters of this depth).

6.2 Composite Deck-Girder Bridges

Two primary parameters affecting heat
straighteningvee angle and heating temperaturehave been discussed in previous
chapters. However, three additional parameters have also been shown to play a
central role in the heat-straightening process. One factor relates to the influence of
restraining forces, a second to the heating
patterns used, and a third to the damageinduced pattern. A typical damage pattern is
shown in Figure 42. Typically, a lateral
jacking force is applied to the lower flange
during heat-straightening repair. However,
the determination of the jacking ratio is
complicated for composite girders due to the
internal redundancy of the system. First,
when a lateral jacking force is applied to the
lower flange, only a portion of that force
produces a moment in the flange. Part of the
force follows a load path through the web
into the upper composite flange and is resisted by the concrete deck. The determination of the actual moment in the lower damaged flange is required to prevent overstress during jacking and to predict the expected movement. Second, the moment capacity due to a laterally applied load is also
influenced by the load path transfer making
it difficult to compute the plastic moment
capacity, Mp.
The most effective combinations of
heating patterns and restraining forces are
ones that minimize any internal constraints

Figure 42. Typical deformed shape and yield zones in damaged composite girders.

Figure 43. Heating patterns for composite girder.

inhibiting the straightening while maximizing the positive external constraint effect.
For any damage condition, an analysis of
these factors is required to optimize straightening effects. For Figure 43, the wide
flange can be analyzed in terms of its web
and bottom flange plate components as interacting elements
Each has plastically deformed so attempting to straighten the first component
independently of the second leads to the
second component acting as a negative constraining force rather than a positive one.
6.2.1
Factors
Affecting
HeatStraightening Behavior of Composite
Girders

6.2.1.1 Heat Patterns

The term heat patterns refers to the
combination and layout of vee heats, line
heats, and strip heats used to conduct the
heat-straightening repair. Conceptually, vee
heats are used to repair plate elements with
plastic bending about the major axis, while
line heats are applied to repair plate elements with flexural damage about the minor
axis. Hence, a vee heat on the bottom flange
in conjunction with a line heat on the web,
applied to their respective plastically yielded
portions, are the proper heat patterns to repair a composite beam in Figure 43. Care
must be taken to iteratively adjust the span
of the line heats, so only portions of the web
are heated that show plastic curvature after
the previous heating cycle. Similarly, the
vee heats are confined to the portion of the
bottom flange with plastic deformations.
In addition, a half-depth web strip
heat is usually required. The purpose of this
heat is to reduce the differential shortening
between web and flange. By heating the
web with a half-depth strip, the web can de-

form and relieve some of these stresses.

The strip heat tends to reduce the buckling
of the web near the center of damage.
6.2.1.2 Residual Moments
A characteristic of each damaged
girder is the presence of residual moments.
When damage is induced, the web acts as a
spring resisting the movement. While a
yield line typically occurs near the top of the
web, there is also an elastic component of
stored energy, often referred to as internal
redundancy. During the first heat cycle, this
restoring force acts as an additional jacking
force tending to straighten the girder.
Unless the external jacking ratio is reduced,
the plastic rotation during the first heat cycle
is magnified. The initial plastic rotation relieves the majority of this stored force, so, it
doesnt influence successive heats. If the
girder is externally indeterminate in the impact direction, residual moments are also
created during the damage phase. For either
case this behavior should be considered
when developing a constraint plan. A reduced jacking force is recommended during
the first two heating cycles to minimize internal force effects and the possibility of
cracking.
6.2.1.3 Restraining Forces
The simplest way of providing restraining
forces is to allow the unheated portion of the
member to restrict thermal expansion by
suitable heat pattern locations. This is a
form of an internal constraint. Internal constraint may also be imposed by the selfweight, axial loading, or static indeterminacy of the member. Frequently, external
restraining forces are used to complement or
even negate the internal constraints to enhance
the
heat-straightening.

6.2.1.4 Stiffening Effect of Web

When a lateral restraining force is applied to
the damaged lower flange of a composite
girder, the purpose is to generate a restraining moment in the lower flange. Due to the
web interaction between the lower flange
and the completely restrained upper flange,
some of the applied force is transferred
through the web into the deck rather than
into the lower flange. For deep girders most
of the force goes into the lower flange.
However, for more shallow depths, an increasing amount of the force does not go
into the lower flange. Only the fraction of
the total force that is directly carried by the
bottom flange provides external restraint to
the vee heat. Hence, a jacking ratio assuming that the lower flange provides the total
resistance does not reflect the true bending
moment in the bottom flange and may be
considered only as a nominal jacking ratio.
It is more relevant to calculate the jacking
ratio using the actual bending moment transferred to the bottom flange. This ratio is the
effective jacking ratio.
6.2.2 Model for Heat-Straightening Response

Avent and Mukai (1998) developed a model

to determine the amount of the applied lateral jacking force that is actually distributed
to the lower flange as opposed to that which
is transferred through the web to the composite deck. The stiffness of the system includes both the effect of the lower flange
and the web stiffening effect due to connectivity with the upper composite flange.
Thus, only a portion of the moment generated by the jacking force (effective jacking
force) is actually distributed to the lower
flange.
The equation for the change in angle, c, due
to a single vee heat on the lower flange is

c = Fa Fl b

(Eq. 6.6)

Where
Fa = (

d / tw 2
)
46

Fl = 0.6 + 2

(Eq. 6.7)

Mj
Mp

d tw
(15 + 2.75 d t w )
10,000

b = 0.0147 sin

(Eq. 6.8)

(Eq. 6.9)
(Eq. 6.10)

and d/tw is the web depth-to-thickness ratio,

Mj is the jacking moment if the lower flange
carried the load independently of the web
(apparent jacking force), and Mp is the plastic moment of the lower flange.
6.2.3 Modeling Statically Indeterminate
Spans with Intermediate Diaphragms

Practically all steel spans over roadways

have intermediate diaphragms. When the
lower flange is impacted, its behavior resembles that of a beam continuous over several supports with the diaphragms acting as
these supports, Figure 44a. The impact usually produces a plastic hinge mechanism as
shown in Figure 44b. The three plastic
hinges produce reverse curvature bending
and yield zones at the impact point and adjacent supports a shown in Figure 44c. The
vee heat patterns are also shown in Figure
44c. Both the positive and negative curvature sections should be heated either simultaneously or in quick succession so rotation
will occur at all three locations with reduced
restraint from adjacent plastic hinges. Consequently, the model for the single span case
should provide a reasonable approximation
of this more complex situation. Important
considerations for composite girder repair

are the residual stresses induced during both

the damage and the repair phase.

Figure 44. Diaphram stiffened composite girder

For the beam shown in Figure 45,

dead loads produce bending about the minor
axis of the wide flange beam. The dead load
can have a neutral, positive or negative effect on repairs depending on the type of
damage. For example if the damage is a result of bending about the beams major axis
in Figure 45, but dead loads produce moments about the minor axis, a web vee heat
is in a region of nearly zero dead load stress
based on the original cross section. The
dead load stress will have little effect on
movement about the major axis after heating. If the damage is the result of bending
about the weak axis (in the direction of the
dead loads), then the flange vee heats will be
working against the dead loads. Without the
use of jacking forces to overcome the dead
load moments, the straightening will be reduced or possibly be zero. If the damage
was opposite to the direction of the dead
load, the movement after heat straightening
would be enhanced by the dead load.

6.3 Trusses and Axially Loaded

Members
6.3.1 Introduction

The stress condition of a member plays a

major role in its behavior during heat
straightening. In some cases the loads on a
structure can be reduced to the point that
member stresses are a minor factor. But for
other cases, even after the removal of live
loads, the dead loads produce significant
stresses. A primary case in point is the truss
bridge. Typically, the dead load stresses on
such structures may range from 25-50 percent of maximum service load stresses in
some members. It is thus necessary to examine the stress distribution of a structure
prior to initiating heat straightening.

Figure 45. Dead load conditions on a simply supported beam.

be reduced to compensate for the reduced

P moment.
To generalize, for a simply supported beam-column with the damage at an
arbitrary location, the applied jacking force,
Pa, is
Pa = Pj + Pec

(Eq. 6.11)

where Pj is the jacking force to create a

specified moment at the damage location as
a percentage of Mp, or
Figure 46. P effect on an axially loaded column.

For columns and axially loaded

members, the P- effect must be considered.
If an axially compressed member is damaged by lateral loads as shown in Figure 46,
a moment is generated which is equal to P. This moment is in the opposite direction
to the moment generated by a jacking force
during the straightening process. If the lateral deflection is large, the moment due to
the P- effect could retard or prevent the
restoration movement during heat straightening, or create instability when heating reduces steel strength..
6.3.1 Response of Columns to Heat
Straightening

With the axial load applied, a moment in the

member is created due to the P effect. This
moment tends to impede the heat straightening process as it acts to magnify the damage.
The approach recommended is to cancel out
this moment with the application of the lateral jacking force. The jacking force should
be adjusted to impose the specified jacking
ratio plus inducing a moment to cancel out
the P moment at the center of damage. For
each heating cycle the jacking force should

Pj =

Rl l M p
ab

(Eq. 6.12)

and l = column length, a and b = distances

from end supports to the applied jacking
load, and R l = the jacking ratio, Mj/Mp. Pec
is the additional jacking force required to
cancel the eccentric moment due to the axial
load, P, or

Pec =

lP
ab

(Eq. 6.13)

Test results (Avent and Mukai,

1998) indicate that heat straightening can be
successfully applied to axially loaded compression members. The results are plotted in
Figure 47. Also shown is the theoretical
curve for the beam without axial load based
on the same parameters. The plastic rotations varied linearly with the jacking ratio,
but they tended to be smaller than those predicted for the same beam without axial
compression (Eq. 6.1). The axial force reduces the expected values compared to those

In summary, heat straightening is effective

for axially loaded columns using the same
patterns as for cases without axial compressive loads. The movements after heating
will tend to be smaller than with zero axial
loads on the same member. The jacking
forces used should include, as a minimum, a
component producing a moment at the damaged section equal and opposite to the moment produced by the axial compressive
force acting through the deflection at the
damaged section.

7. HEAT-STRAIGHTENING
REPAIR OF LOCALIZED
DAMAGE
7.1 Damage Classification
Damage in steel members can be broadly
classified as global and local damage. Different methods are required for the heatstraightening repair of these types of damage. Global damage entails deformation of
both primary and stiffening elements well
beyond the point of impact. Local damage
is characterized by plastic strain occurring
only in the region of impact. It includes
small bulges, bends or crimps in single elements of the cross section. The two most
frequently encountered patterns can be categorized as flange bulges and web buckles as
shown in Figure 48. Flange bulges are associated with local damage to unstiffened
cross section elements such as a flange of a
girder. Web buckles are associated with lo-

8
Plastic Rotation (milliradians)

without axial loads. Similar behavior was

found for axially loaded compression members with Category S damage plastic rotations.

7
6
5
4
Eq. 8.2

3
Axial load=35% of allowable

Axial load=17.5% of allowable

Theoretical equation for Category

W damage without axial load

0
0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Jacking Ratio (%)

Figure 47. Plastic rotation versus jacking ratio for

axially
loaded
Category
W
column.

cal damage to stiffened cross section elements such as the web of a girder. All are
classified as Category L damage, but two
sub-classifications will be used: Category
L/U for local damage to unstiffened elements, and Category L/S for damage to stiffened elements.
The focus of past heat-straightening
research has been on various aspects of repairing global damage, but localized damage
usually occurs concurrently with global
damage. Yet, little published information
has been available on heat straightening local damage. As a result, localized damage is
often repaired improperly by various combinations of cold mechanical straightening and
hot mechanical straightening, as well as heat
straightening.

Local damage patterns display common characteristics: large plastic strains

(usually tensile) in the damaged zone, and

bending of plate elements about their weak
axes. If the local damage is to be repaired,
shortening must be induced in the damaged
area equal to the elongation caused when the
element was damaged. In addition, the distortion along the yield lines must be removed as part of the repair process. Studies
on global damage repair have shown that
vee heated regions shorten significantly during cooling and that line heats can be used to
induce bending about the yield lines. Thus a
combination of line and vee heats can be
used to repair localized damage.

Figure 48. Typical localized damage classified as

Category L.

An example of local damage to an

unstiffened element is shown in fig. 49.
This type of damage was observed during a
heat-straightening project executed on the
Mississippi River Bridge at Greenville,

Figure 49. Typical Category L/U damage.

Mississippi.
Three sway struts of the
through truss had been damaged by a passing vehicle.
Category L/U local damage is typical
in cases with the impact on a plate element
with one free edge such as a flange of a
beam. Figure 50 shows the typical flange
bulge pattern. Often, distinct yield lines
form as well as some zones of flexural yielding where curvature is highest. The impacted side of the damaged flange will be
referred to as the near side (N). The nonimpacted side of the same flange will also
typically incur damage. This damage on the
far side (F) of the flange has a geometry
similar to N, but usually of lower magnitude. The damaged flange typically undergoes rotation about a clearly defined yieldline near the rolled fillet of the web (depth
k in AISC diagrams). The impacted side
(N) of the flange usually deforms in a folded
plate pattern, as shown deforming toward
the web in Figure 50b. The deformation
usually results in strains significantly higher
than

usually deforms in a similar pattern in the

opposite direction, even if not directly impacted. The pattern, fig. 50d, tends to have
smaller deformations, thus n > f . Because
the web is thinner than the flange, a yield
line often forms in the web near the fillet.
The section shown in Figure 50b illustrates
this behavior.
The tee section at the
flange/web juncture remains close to a right
angle. The yield line forming in the web
fillet allows this tee to rotate through an angle w. The yield line at the flange fillet on
the impacted side of the flange (side N) results from the additional rotation, n, thus
the total rotation of the N flange is w +n.
The other half of the flange (side F) tends to
resist rotation thus a second flange yield line
may form at the F side fillet. The angle
formed by this yield line is f and the rotation of the F flange is w - f. The identification of these yield lines is important in the
repair procedure.

7.2 Heat Straightening Procedures

for Unstiffened Local Damage

Figure 50. Heat straightening local flange damage

(Category L/U).

yield lines which define the edges of the

folded plate (Figure 50c). In some cases,
particularly in regions of high curvature, the
deformation pattern may be one of a flexural
yield surfaces rather than a series of yield
lines. These surfaces result from plate element flexure and tend to spread over the surface as the degree of damage increases.
Such zones will be referred to here as yield
surfaces. The other half of the same flange

The specific heating pattern depends on the

details of the damage geometry. The typical
damaged cross section is shown in Figure
50a. There are three components of rotation: (1) the web/flange juncture, which remains at right angles, and has a rotation w
resulting from rotation about the web yield
line; (2) the near side flange, N, which has a
maximum rotation n, resulting from additional rotation about the flange yield line;
and (3) the far side flange, which has a reduced rotation, w - f, resulting from the
resistance of flange F to rotation caused by
forces applied to flange N. The heating/jacking pattern to straighten this damage
will depend on how the geometry changes as
heat straightening progresses. The following steps outline a typical procedure. How-

ever, because there are so many possible

damage shapes, exact procedures cannot be
established.

should be used (preferably only one) in one

heating

7.2.1 Phase I. Initial Heating Patterns

and Jacking Locations

This phase is most effective with jacking

forces on both the near and far sides of the
flange. However, it can be conducted with
jacking only on the near (impacted) side.
The specific steps are:
7.2.1.1 Restraining forces
Place jacking forces on both the near and far
sides of the damaged flange in the direction
tending to restore the flange to its original
condition. As shown in Figure 51a, a convenient arrangement on the near side is to
place a jack, Pn, between the top and bottom
flange. The far side jack, Pf, requires a
clamping type force which is often more difficult to arrange in field applications. If the
clamping force cannot be anchored from the
opposite flange, a spreader beam arrangement can be used, as shown in Figure 51d,
to anchor the reaction to the straight portions of the far side flange. An alternative is
to only jack from the near side. However,
the average movement per cycle tends to be
lower than similar cases jacked on both
sides. In certain cases, Pf should be reversed
(see following sections).
7.2.1.2 Vee heats
Although vee heats may not be necessary, a
limited number may be used to assist in the
flange shortening effort. The vees should be
approximately half depth and applied to
both the near and far sides of the flange to
eliminate global curving of the member.
The vee should be narrow with an angle of
20 or less and the open end of the vees
should be at the flange tips. It is best to
place the vee heats in regions where no line
heats are required. No more than two vees

Figure 51. Arrangement of restraining forces during various stages of repair.

cycle. The location should be shifted with

each heating cycle so the same location is
not re-heated for at least three cycles. A
typical arrangement is shown in Figure 52b.
7.2.1.3 Line heats
All flange yield lines should be heated (on
the convex surface (if practical) after any
vee heats used. A typical pattern is shown
in Figure 52a. In yield surfaces of continuous plastic strain such as often occurs in regions such as ABC in Figure 52a, line heats
should be spaced over the section at a spac-

ing of approximately bf/4 where bf is the

flange width. Similarly, line heats may also
be used instead of vee heats on section
BCDE. The order of heating the yield lines
tends to have a minor impact although it is
good practice to heat the ones at the largest
damage locations first. It is also recommended to heat the near side lines prior to
the far side.
7.2.1.4 Web line heat
The web yield line should be heated last. It
is typically located at the fillet as shown in
Figure 52c.
7.2.2 Phase II. Heating/Jacking Pattern if
n = 0 or f = 0

These four steps complete the cycle.

The cycle should be repeated until the
flange is straightened within specific tolerances. Quite often phase I can be used to
nearly straighten the section. However, the
progress of the movement should be observed to insure that over-straightening does
not take place on either side of the flange. If
the flange movement progresses too quickly,
then n or f may become zero prior to w.
This situation is shown in Figure 51b.
Should this behavior occur, a modification
in the phase I pattern should be made in Step
3 for line heats. Rather than heating all
seven lines (Figure 52a), line 4 should not
be heated.
7.2.3 Phase III. Heating Pattern if f = w.

If straightening progresses to the point that

f = w, then the far flange may overstraighten with the continuation of Phase I
heating. The pattern should be changed.

Figure 52. Arrangement of vee and line heats.

The situation is depicted in Figure 51c. The

modification is to reverse the direction of
the far side jacking force while continuing
the phase I patterns including lines. The
force Pf will prevent over-straightening
while allowing the near flange and web to
continue corrective movement.
7.2.4 Flange Damage in Opposite Direction

If the damage is reversed, i.e., side N is

pushed away from the opposite flange instead of toward it, the direction of the restraining forces should be reversed. The
heating patterns are similar to those previously described.
Localized damage to unstiffened elements can have a wide variety of geometries, so the cases shown establish both the
pattern and principals upon which heat
straightening can be based. Judgment is

needed to apply this methodology for specific cases.

7.3. Heat straightening Procedures

for Stiffened Elements
Select the heating patterns for damaged stiffened elements based on an evaluation of the total situation. Treating the regions of sharpest curvature with combinations of lines and/or narrow vees is the most
effective approach, heating only in the regions with plastic curvature. As straightening progresses, regions should become
smaller. The following line heat methodology is recommended for bulges in stiffened
elements. A star vee pattern is sometimes
used but has been found to be less effective.
7.3.1

but do not run the radial lines inside the

last ring. Continue this pattern cyclically
until the crown region begins to flatten. Allow the steel to completely cool between
heating cycles.
Jacks are typically placed at the
crown tending to straighten the bulge. Heating patterns must be adjusted to work
around jacks and to avoid heat transfer to
the jacks which may damage them.

Initial Heating Pattern

The typical bulge will have reverse curvature bending as shown in Figure 53. The
crown region should be heated first with the
torch on the convex side. As movement
progresses, the heating patterns can be expanded into the reverse curvature region
again with the torch on the convex side.
The initial heating patterns should consist of
radial and ring line heats as illustrated by
solid lines in Figure 53. The exact number
of ring heats will depend on the size of this
region. The diameter of the smallest ring
should be no less 50 mm (2 in) with spacing
between rings of at least 50 mm (2 in). For
large bulges the ring spacing should be larger than 50 mm (2 in). For cases where the
curvature is relatively uniform, equally
spaced rings may be used, but a ring heat
should be centered at each location where
sharp changes in curvature occur.
Heat the outer ring of the crown region (solid lines) on the convex side first
and work inward. After the rings are heated,
the radial lines in the crown region should
be heated. Again, work from the outside in

Figure 53. Curvature and line heating patterns for

category L/S damage

7.3.2 Final Heating Pattern

As the crown section flattens, the heating

pattern should be expanded into the reverse
curvature regions as shown by the dashed
lines. The ring heats should be spaced as

described in 7.3.1 and the radial heats extended as shown by dashed lines in Figure
53b. Rings may be repetitively heated or
shifted, depending on the degree of plastic
curvature. The steel should completely cool
before the next heating cycle begins.

7.4 Determination
Forces

of

Jacking

Since there is no direct equivalent to plastic

moment for this type of plate element, Capacity should be taken as the load at initial
yielding. Jacking forces should not produce
stresses greater than 50% of yield. However, the determination of these stresses for
local damage is quite difficult to determine
analytically. One way to determine the
jacking force that produces yield is experimentally. One approach is to select an area
of low stress due to live loading and jack in
this area until small permanent deformations
are observed. This procedure will define the
yield jacking force without significant damage to the member. One-half of this value
should be the maximum jacking force used
in the damaged zone. Otherwise, jacking
forces must be estimated and judged by the
amount of movement after each cycle. It is
recommended that movement not exceed 4
mm (1/8 in.) per cycle.

7.5 Conclusions
Local damage to can be heat straightened by
using jacking forces and a relatively small
number of line heats rather than a large
number of vee heats. Straightening local
damage is usually done in stages in which

both jacking forces and heating patterns are

varied in response to the progression of
movements. As a general rule, apply heat to
the convex side of the surface. For shallow
configurations without sharp changes in
slope, the jacking force may be greatly relieved during the cooling cycle. To increase
effective movement, the jacking force may
be maintained at the original, pre-heated
level during cooling but, never increased
above that value. If jack pressure is maintained, take care not to exceed the desired
movement.
Local damage often has highly irregular patterns requiring a variety of heating patterns based on the damage and member configuration. The principles discussed
in this chapter provide a guide but judgment
is needed for individual applications.
A second area requiring judgment
relates to degree of damage. For plate elements bent about their weak axis, the strain
ratio (/y) may well exceed 100, often considered the upper limit for heat straightening
repairs. However, local damage often occurs at locations where design live and dead
load stresses are not large, such as secondary bracing members. In such cases, the
repair of large strain cases might be undertaken for Category L damage which would
not be considered for Categories S, W, or T.
In all cases engineering judgment is required.

APPENDIX I
SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE SELECTION OF CONTRACTORS
AND THE CONDUCT OF HEAT-STRAIGHTENING REPAIRS
This Appendix contains suggested
specifications for contractor selection and
the conduct of heat-straightening repairs.
The criteria presented here are guidelines
only. The Engineer should select the criteria
appropriate for the structures anticipated
use, the complexity of the project and to ensure contractor competency..

A1 Selection of Contractor (or the

Contractors field supervisor)
The selection of a contractor shall be based
on one or more of the following criteria: experience, training, certification, and educational background. If there is neither a certification nor established training program
currently available, experience and educational background shall be the primary criteria for selecting a heat-straightening contractor. Typical experience criteria are:
The contractors organization shall
have at least _____ years of experience in
conducting heat-straightening repairs for
damaged steel structures. During the preceding three year period, the contractor
shall have conducted an average of at least
_____ heat-straightening projects per year.
Experience documentation shall include:
date of project, location, bridge owner,
number and type of members straightened,
and duration of project.
The years of experience and number
of projects conducted can be varied at the
Engineers discretion. Factors which may
influence this decision include: criticality of
damaged members, urgency of repairs, traffic volume and need to maintain traffic,

complexity of damage, degree of damage,

accessibility, climatic conditions, and scale
of the project.
Educational background and specific
training may be considered by the Engineer
if the preceding criteria are not satisfied.
Licensing as a professional engineer in such
fields as metallurgical, structural, mechanical, or welding engineering may also be
considered. Typical educational background
criteria are:
The contractor (or the contractors
field supervisor) shall have a baccalaureate
degree from an accredited program in one
of the following engineering disciplines and
be a licensed professional engineer qualified to practice in one of the following disciplines: structural, metallurgical, mechanical, or welding engineering.
The Engineer may require evidence
of qualifications for the technicians involved
in the conduct of the heat applications.
These qualifications may include evidence
of similar, prior work on equivalent structures, documented training in heat straightening, and the ability to explain performance
of their duties.
For additional quality control, the
following technical specifications apply to
the conduct of the project.

A2 Technical Specifications for the

Conduct of Heat-Straightening Repairs
The following technical specifications are suggested for incorporation into
repair contracts. The Engineer should use

judgment in selecting the criteria that best

fits the specific damage situation. These are
only partial guide specifications focusing on
the heat straightening aspects of bridge repair. Specifications on general areas of
bridge repair such as traffic control,
worker/public safety, permitted hours of operation, documentation of final geometry,
etc., should be included by the owner
1.

Equipment

1.1 Heating shall be with an oxygen-fuel

combination. The fuel may be propane,
acetylene or other similar fuel as may be
selected by the contractor, subjected to the
Engineers approval.

1.3 Jacks, come-alongs or other force

application devices shall be gauged and
calibrated so that the force exerted by the
device may be controlled and measured.
No external force shall be applied to the
structure by the contractor unless it is measured.
2.

Damage Assessment

2.1 Suspected areas of cracking shall be

called to the attention of the Engineer and
shall be inspected by one or more of the following methods as applicable.

1.2 Heat application shall be by single

or multiple orifice tips only. The size of the
tip shall be proportional to the thickness of
the heated material. As a guide, the tip sizes
shown in table A2 are recommended. No
cutting torch heads are permitted.

2.1.1 Visual Inspection

2.1.2 Liquid penetrant examination
as described in ASTM E165 (1994 or
latest edition).
2.1.3

Magnetic-Particle testing as
described in ASTM E709
(1994 or latest edition).

Table A1. Recommended Tolerances for Heat Straightening Repair.

Member Type

Recommended Minimum Tolerance1,2

English (in)

SI (mm)

overall

in over 20 ft

13 mm over 6 meters

at impact point

in over 20 ft

19 mm over 6 meters

Local Web Deviations

d/100 but not less than in

d/100 but not less than

6 mm

Local Flange Deviations

b/100 but not less than in

b/100 but not less than

6 mm

Beams, Truss members,

or Columns

Units of member depth, d, and flange width, b, are inches and millimeters, respectively, for English and SI units
2

Tolerances for curved or cambered members should account for the original
shape of the member

Table A2. Recommended torch tips for various material thicknesses.

Steel Thickness (in)

<
3/8

5/8

2
3
>4

Orifice Type
Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Single
Rosebud
Single
Rosebud
Rosebud
Rosebud

2.1.4 Ultrasonic examination as

described in section 6, part C of the
ANSI/AASHTO/AWS Bridge Welding
Code D1.5, American Welding Society (1996 or latest edition).
2.1.5 Radiographic examination as
described in section 6, part B of the
ANSI/AASHTO/AWS Bridge Welding
Code D1.5, American Welding Society (1996 or latest edition).
2.2 The cost of the inspections under 2.1
shall be additional to other testing required
and costs shall be negotiated between the
Engineer and contractor.
2.3 Contractor shall identify and document all yield zones, yield lines and associated damage and provide this information to
the Engineer prior to initiation of heat
straightening by either visual inspection or
measurements.
2.4 Steel with strains up to 100 times the
yield strain may be repaired by heat
straightening. For strains greater than this

Size
3
4
5
7
8
8
3
8
4
5
5

limit, the Engineer shall determine if heat

straightening may be used.
2.5 Cracks and/or strains exceeding 100
times the yield strain, or other serious defects may require changes in the scope of
the contract which shall be negotiated between the Engineer and the contractor.
3.

Heat Application

3.1 The temperature of the steel during

heat straightening shall not exceed the following:
3.1.1 650C (1,200F) for Carbon
Steels.
3.1.2 620C (1,100F) for A514
and A709 (grades 100 and 100W)
steels.
3.1.3 565C (1,050F) for A709
grade 70W steel.
3.2 The Contractor shall use one or
more of the following methods for routine,

ongoing, documented temperature verification during heat straightening:

3.2.1
ons

Temperature sensitive cray-

3.2.2 Pyrometer
3.2.3 Infrared non-contact thermometer
3.3 Material should be heated in a single
pass following the specified pattern and allowed to cool to below 120C (250F) prior
to re-heating.
3.4 Heating patterns and sequences
shall be selected to match the type of damage and cross section shape.
3.5 Vee heats shall be shifted over the
yield zone on successive heating cycles.
3.6 Simultaneous vee heats may be used
provided that the clear spacing between
vees is greater than the width of the plate
element
3.7 Repair
of
previously
heatstraightened members in the same region of
damage may be conducted once. Further
repairs are not recommended unless approved by the Engineer.
4.
Application of Jacking forces
4.1 Jacks shall be placed so that forces
are relieved as straightening occurs during
cooling.
4.2 Magnitude of Jacking Forces
4.2.1 Jacking shall be limited so
that the maximum bending moment
in the heated zone shall be less than
50 percent of the plastic moment capacity of the member or major bending element. For local damage, the
jacking force shall be limited to 50
percent of initial yield of the element.
4.2.2 The jacking force shall be ad-

justed so that the sum of jackinginduced moments and estimated residual moments shall be less than 50
percent of the plastic moment capacity of the member. As an alternative
to considering residual moments, the
moment due to jacking forces can be
limited to 25 percent of the plastic
moment capacity of the member during the first two heating cycles. For
additional heating cycles, the limit of
50 percent may again be used.
4.3 Control of jacking forces
The contractor shall determine and document the maximum jacking force for each
damage location, and the proposed sequence of jacking and heating. Copies of the
documentation shall be submitted to the Engineer for acceptance before beginning repairs. Modifications due to changing condition shall be submitted to the Engineer. The
maximum jacking force may be controlled
by measuring the deflection resulting from
the jacking force. The deflection limitation
can be computed by one of the following
methods.
4.4 The calibration of jacks and electronic temperature monitoring equipment
shall be performed and documented
monthly, and load cells used for calibration
must be certified within a two year period.
5.
Field Supervision of Repair
5.1 Jacking forces shall be monitored to
insure that limits are not exceeded.
5.2 Heating patterns shall be approved
by the Engineer.
5.3 Heating temperatures shall be routinely monitored to insure compliance with
specified limits.
6.
Tolerances
6.1 The dimensions of heat-straightened
structural members shall conform to the tolerances specified in table A1 except as noted

below.
6.2 Tolerance limits may be relaxed at
the discretion of the Engineer, based on one
or more or the following considerations:

(b)

Time considerations resulting from

the nature of traffic congestion during the repair operation.

(c)

Cost of repair.

(a)

(d)

Degree of restoration required to

restore structural integrity.

Type and location of damage in the

member.

APPENDIX II. NOMENCLATURE

a,b,c

= Dimensional constants

bf

= Flange width

bs

= Width of stiffening element

= Temperature in degrees Celsius

cd

= Chord length across the yield zone

of a curved beam

= Depth of wide flange beam or primary plate element

ds

dv

= Depth of vee in flat plate

Distance between the vee apex

edge of the primary plate element
and the stiffening element

amount of damage
P

= Axial load in compression member

Pa

= Total jacking force for an axially

loaded member

Pec

= Additional jacking force required

to cancel eccentric moments due
to axial loads

Pj

= Jacking force

Pn, Pf = Jacking force on near and far side

of locally damaged flange
r

= Radius of arbitrary circle on

flange bulge

= Modulus of elasticity

= Actual radius of curvature

fa

= Axial stress in a compression

member due to live and dead loads

Rl

= Jacking ratio M j / M p

Fa

= Stress factor for calculating plastic

rotation in rolled shapes

Ry

= Radius of curvature at initial yield

= Section modulus

Fl

= Jacking load factor

= Heating temperature

Fs
tic

= Shape factor for calculating plasrotation in rolled shapes

tw

= Web thickness

= Width at open end of vee

Fy

= Yield stress

= Primary plate element width

= Span length of flexural member

yo

L, Lr

= Lengths between offsets

Lu

= Length of free edge of flange

before localized damage

yr

= Measured offsets at point r

ymax

= Distance from centroid to extreme

fiber

= Plastic section modulus

= Coefficient of thermal expansion

Mj

= Moment produced by jacking

forces

Initial out-of-straightness
compression member

of

Mp

= Plastic moment capacity of a

member

Mr

= Residual moment

My

= Moment at initial yield

f, n = Deflection of locally damaged

flange on far and near side,
respectively

max

Number of single vee heats

required to remove a specified

= Maximum deflection of laterally

loaded beam

Lateral deflection
member

of

loaded

= Actual strain

= Elastic strain at open end of vee

max

= Actual strain at extreme fiber of

member

= Strain at initial yield of material

= Distribution factor for heated

composite beam

= Ratio of maximum strain to yield

strain, max/y

= Basic plate rotation factor

= Plastic rotation of composite girder

= Degree of damage

= Plastic rotation resulting from a

single vee heat on a plate or
rolled shape

= Vee angle

= Slope of flange on side away from

impact for locally damaged
member

= Slope of flange on impact side of

locally damaged flange

= Slope of web for beam with local

flange damage

APPENDIX III. REFERENCES AND OTHER SOURCES OF

INFORMATION
American Railway Engineering Association,
Flame Shortening Eyebars to
Equalize Stresses, Bulletin No. 460.
American Welding Society, (1996). Bridge
Welding Code, ANSI/AASHTO/
AWS D1. 5-96, Miami, FL.
Avent, R.R. (1987). Use of Heat Straightening Techniques for Repair of
Damaged Steel Structural Elements
in Bridges. Final Report, Louisiana
Transportation Research Center,
Louisiana State Univ., Baton Rouge,
La.
Avent, R.R. (1988). Heat Straightening of
Steel: From Art to Science. Proceedings., National Steel Construction Conference. Miami Beach, June,
pp. 6-21.
Avent, R.R. (1989). Heat-Straightening of
Steel: Fact and Fable. Journal

Structural Engineering., ASCE,

115(11), 2773-2793.
Avent, R.R. (1992). Designing HeatStraightening Repairs. Proceedings,
National Steel Construction Conference, AISC, Las Vegas, Nev., June,
pp. 21-23.
Avent, R.R. (1995) Engineered Heat
Straightening Comes of Age. Modern Steel Construction, Vol. 35,
No.2, Feb., pp. 32-39.
Avent, R.R. and Brakke, B.C. (1996).
Anatomy of Steel Bridge HeatStraightening Project Transportation Research Record, No. 1561,
TRB, National Research Council,
Washington, D.C. pp. 26-36.

Avent, R.R. and Fadous, G.M. (1988).

Heat-Straightening Prototype Dam-

aged Bridge Girders, Journal of

Structural Engineering, ASCE, Vol.
15, No. 7, July pp.1631-1649.
Avent, R.R. and Fadous, G.M. (1989).
Heat-straightening Techniques for
Repair of Damaged Structural Steel
in Bridges, LTRC 223, Louisiana
Transportation Research Center, Baton Rouge, LA.
Avent, R.R. and Fadous, G.M., and
Boudreaux, R.J. (1991). HeatStraightening of Damaged Structural
Steel in Bridges, Transportation
Research Board, No. 1319 TRB, National Research Council, Washington, DC. pp. 86-93.
Avent, R. R. and Mukai, D.(1999-a). Fundamental Concepts of HeatStraightening Repair for Damaged
Steel Bridges, Transportation Research Record, No. 1680, Transportation Research Board, Washington,
DC, pp. 47-54.
Avent, R. R. and Mukai, D. (1999b). Planning, De-signing, and Implementing of Heat-Straightening
Repair of Bridges, Transportation
Research Record, No. 1680, Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC, pp. 55-62.
Avent, R. R., and Mukai, D. (1999-c). HeatStraightening Repair for Damaged
Steel Bridges, Vol. 1: Management,
Design and Techniques, Pub. No.
FHWA-HIF-00-008 (CD-ROM),
Federal Highway Administration,
Washington DC.
Avent, R. R., and Mukai, D. J. (2001-a).
Engineered Heat-Straightening Repairs: A Case Study, Journal of
Bridge Engineering, ASCE, Vol. 6,
No. 2, pp. 95-102, Mar/Apr, 2001
Avent, R. R., and Mukai, D. J. (2001-b).
WhatYou Should Know About

Heat Straightening Repair of Damaged Steel, Engineering Journal,

AISC, Vol. 38, No. 1, First Quarter,
pp. 27-49.
Avent, R. R., and Mukai, D. (1999). HeatStraightening Repair for Damaged
Steel Bridges, Vol. 2: Case Study,
Lake Charles, La., Pub. No. FHWAHIF-00-008 (CD-ROM), Federal
Highway Administration, Washington DC.
Avent, R. R., Mukai, D. J., and Heymsfield,
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