Fatigue Analysis of Plain Concrete in Flexure

Abstract

This paper investigates fatigue strength of plain concrete subjected to flexural loading. This type of fatigue loading is of concern in the design of concrete bridges and concrete pavement slabs, since the flexural stresses in these structures can be critical. Both experimental and theoretical studies are conducted. The S‐N curves are generated from the test results and an equation is obtained by regression analysis to predict the flexural fatigue strength of concrete. A probabilistic approach is introduced to predict the fatigue reliability of concrete. The distribution of fatigue life of concrete under a given stress level was found, from the test data, to approximately follow the Weibull probability law. The method of obtaining the distribution parameters from S‐N relation for the flexural fatigue of concrete is also presented. The Weibull distribution is found to have more convincing physical features than the lognormal distribution, and may be appropriate to. describe the fatigue behavior of concrete.