Shear-fatigue behavior of high-strength reinforced concrete beams under repeated loading

The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the damage mechanism due to shear-fatigue behavior of high-strength reinforced concrete beams under repeated loading. The relationship between the number of cycles and the deflection or strain, the crack growths and modes of failure with the increase of number of cycles, fatigue strength, and S-N curve were observed through a fatigue test. Based on the fatigue test results, high-strength reinforced concrete beams failed at 57-66 percent of static ultimate strength for 2 million cycles. The fatigue strength at 2 million cycles from S-N curves was shown as about 60 percent of static ultimate strength. Compared to normal-strength reinforced concrete beams, fatigue capacity of high-strength reinforced concrete beams was similar to or lower than fatigue capacity of normal-strength reinforced concrete beams. Fatigue capacity of normal-strength reinforced concrete beams improved by over 60 percent.