Fatigue crack growth of fiber reinforced concrete is analyzed with a fracture mechanics based model that accounts for the effect of cycle- dependent crack bridging of aggregates and fibers. Fatigue life of fiber reinforced concrete is defined by the number…
Fatigue crack growth of fiber reinforced concrete is analyzed with a fracture mechanics based model that accounts for the effect of cycle- dependent crack bridging of aggregates and fibers. Fatigue life of fiber reinforced concrete is defined by the number of cycles at which final unstable fracture takes place subsequent to stable fatigue crack growth. The resulting theoretical S-N diagram is compared with experimental data reported in literature and shows general agreement. Furthermore, it is shown that the bond degradation at the fiber-matrix interface influences fatigue crack growth and, in turn, fatigue life. Fatigue crack arrest is predicted for the case of less degradable interface, resulting in infinite fatigue life. The model demonstrates the existence of fatigue limit in the standard S-N tests and suggests directions for the development of high- fatigue resistant fiber reinforced concrete.