Design of Concrete Structures for Fatigue Reliability

Abstract

Four different limit states formats for the fatigue design of reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete structures are described and compared within the context of simple second level reliability theory. All four formats lend themselves to reliability treatment but the cycle format appears to be the most useful at the present time, given the limited quantity of design data available on the fatigue properties of the component materials. The problem of choosing appropriate reliability levels for fatigue design is also studied. A comparative calibration method is used to identify a range of acceptable values for the nominal probability of fatigue failure and the associated reliability index β. A design procedure for fatigue is finally proposed which incorporates the results of the present study.