The Effect of Piece Marking Upon Fatigue Performance of Bridge Steel

An experimental study was undertaken to determine if markings used to identify fabricated steel using modern automatic impact stenciling equipment could be used on structures subjected to fatigue loading. The fatigue specimens with both numeric and alphabetic markings were tested. The results showed that fatigue life of marked steel exceeded the fatigue design strength for Category A, the highest fatigue design category. Marking pieces with this equipment will not affect the fatigue design strength of the member.