Mean and design fatigue lives of SFRC containing cement-based materials

This paper examines the flexural fatigue performance of steel-fibre-reinforced concrete (SFRC) containing different cement-based materials in terms of mean and design fatigue lives. An experimental programme was designed to determine the fatigue lives of beam specimens of seven SFRC composites containing fly ash, silica fume, limestone powder and metakaolin as partial cement replacements in varying amounts. The fatigue life distributions of all mix combinations at different stress levels were statistically analysed using a two-parameter Weibull distribution. The Weibull modelling used to describe the distribution of cycles to failure is summarised. The Weibull distribution parameters as determined from fatigue/S–N equations were employed to determine the mean fatigue lives. The design fatigue lives were calculated corresponding to selected acceptable probabilities of failure (i.e. 0·01, 0·05, 0·10, 0·15 and 0·25). SFRC containing fly ash and silica fume in proportions of 20% and 10% by weight of binder re...