Abstract
Rigid pavements are widely used for very heavily trafficked freeways because of their long design period and high performance. Rigid pavements are designed for two modes of failure, namely, fatigue and erosion. Most of the fatigue damage occurs due to very heavy axle loads. In this research, steel fibre was added to Portland cement concrete at 20 kg/m3 and 60 kg/m3 to improve fatigue resistance, which could allow for thinner pavements and hence lower construction costs. In addition, the prediction of fatigue life according to the Portland Cement Association and Corps of Engineers models were compared with the measured fatigue of the plain concrete and fibre reinforced concrete. Fatigue tests were carried out using constant stress mode. A range of stresses were applied to cover a range of stress ratios from 0.26 to 0.616. Comparisons between measured fatigue lives and the predicted lives using the Portland Cement Association and Corps of Engineers models have shown that none of these models provided a good match with the measured values. It was found that steel fibres improved fatigue resistance. However, high fibre contents showed detrimental effect on fatigue at high stress ratios.
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