Investigation of equal strength mild steel tenons as displacement restraining devices for long-span railway arch bridges

•Full-scale pseudo-static tests were conducted on Equal Strength Mild Steel Tenons.•The tested ESMSTs have satisfactory seismic performance and good fatigue behavior.•The numerical model can accurately reproduce the behavior of tested ESMSTs.•The case study shows that the ESMSTs can have more than 25% less displacements.•The ESMSTs can work effectively and efficiently in long-span railway arch bridges.