Study on biaxial bending fatigue performance of Engineered Cementitious Composites (ECC)

Abstract

Structural components such as bridge deck, highway pavement and thin-walled roof dome often are subjected to the biaxial and even multi-axis stress state due to the external load. Also, the fatigue effect cannot be ignored due to the moving vehicle load in the design of these structures. If engineering cementitious composites (ECC) is used in the above traditional concrete structures, their performance, such as easy cracking and short service life can be greatly improved. However, the biaxial bending fatigue performance of ECC should be analyzed in detail. At present, the biaxial bending test methods of cement-based materials include biaxial bending test (BFT) and centrally loaded round panel test (RPT). This study used both RPT and BFT test methods to analyze the biaxial fatigue performance of ECC and used four-point bending test (4PBT) uniaxial fatigue test as a reference. The stress levels S were set as 0.5, 0.6 and 0.7. The uniaxial and biaxial bending fatigue failure procedures of ECC were analyzed by plotting the three-stage deflection development curve, the fatigue damage and strain relationship curve based on the linear cumulative fatigue damage theory, and the S–N curve. The fatigue life of ECC biaxial bending specimens was greater than that of uniaxial bending specimens. At S = 0.5, the fatigue life: BFT > RPT. At S = 0.6, the fatigue life of BFT and RPT specimens was close. At S = 0.7, the fatigue life: BFT < RPT. With increasing stress level, the fatigue life of BFT specimen decreases more than that of RPT specimen. The lognormal distribution model and Weibull distribution model were used to fit the uniaxial and biaxial bending fatigue life of ECC, respsectively. Using the double logarithmic fatigue equation, fatigue life under the failure probability PF of 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8, 0.9 was derived. The survival rate represents the level of safety reservation, which could provide reference and basis for the design of ECC bridge deck and highway pavement with different safety reservation requirements.