Flexural Fatigue Performance of Steel Fiber Reinforced Expanded-Shales Lightweight Concrete Superposed Beams with Initial Static-Load Cracks

Concerning the structural applications of steel fiber reinforced expanded-shales lightweight concrete (SFRELC), the present study focuses on the flexural fatigue performance of SFRELC superposed beams with initial static-load cracks. Nine SFRELC superposed beams were fabricated with the SFRELC depth varying from 50% to 70% of the whole sectional depth, and the volume fraction of steel fiber ranged from 0.8% to 1.6%. The fatigue load exerted on the beams was a constant amplitude sinusoid with a frequency of 10 Hz and a fatigue characteristic value of 0.10; the upper limit was taken as the load corresponded to the maximum crack width of 0.20 mm at the barycenter of the longitudinal rebars. The results showed that with the increase of SFRELC depth and the volume fraction of steel fiber, the fatigue life of the test beams was prolonged with three altered failure modes due to the crush of conventional concrete in the compression zone and/or the fracture of the tensile rebar; the failure pattern could be more ductile by the prevention of fatigue fracture by the longitudinal tensile rebar when the volume fraction of steel fiber was 1.6% and the reduction of crack growth and concrete strain in the compression zone; the fatigue life of test beams was sensitive to the upper-limit of the fatigue load, a short fatigue life appeared from the higher stress level and larger stress amplitude of the longitudinal rebar due to the higher upper-limit of the fatigue load. The methods for predicting the stress level, the stress amplitude of the longitudinal tensile rebar, and the degenerated flexural stiffness of SFRELC superposed beams with fatigue life are proposed. With the optimal composites of the SFRELC depth ratio and the volume fraction of steel fiber, the controllable failure of reinforced SFRELC superposed beams could be a good prospect with the trend curves of fatigue flexural stiffness.