Strength tests of 19th-century structural elements made of puddled steel

In Lower Silesia, there is a significant number of steel structures (still in operation) that were built at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. This applies in particular to the use of steel bridges and railway viaducts. The subject of the authors’ research was steel structural elements originating from 19th-century puddled steel. The paper presents the results of chemical analyses, metallographic observations, and basic strength tests, i.e., static tensile tests and impact tests.The tests were carried out for two material states, i.e., the post-service state and the normalized state, simulating the initial state of the material from nearly 150 years ago. The obtained results indicate a significant advancement of degradation processes in the microstructures of the tested materials.
STRENGTH EXAMINATION OF THE 19th-CENTURY CONSTRUCTION
ELEMENTS MADE FROM PUDDLED STEEL
In Lower Silesia exists (still in operation) a significant number of steel constructions manufactured in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In particular, it is used as a steel bridges, and railway viaducts. The object of the investigation were steel structural components made from the nineteenth century puddled steel. The results of chemical analysis, metallographic observations and basic static strength tests, i.e. tensile and impact strength have been presented in this paper. The tests were performed for two material states – namely: post-operated state and normalized state – which simulates the initial state of the material (references state for comparison with the post operated state). The results indicate a prominent advancement of degrading processes of microstructures in tested materials. (…)

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