Principal features of plain concretes under fatigue loadings

This paper discusses the principal characteristic of plain concrete's responses to fatigue loadings. The applicability to plain concrete of a two-parameter "residual strength" model shows that plain concretes share most of the features exhibited by polymer-based fiber composites' under fatigue. Within the model's framework, the concrete strength's stochastic nature relates to fatigue life scatter and simultaneously accounts for the stress ratio and loading rate. Finally, being fixed ab-initio, the model's and the Weibull static strength's parameters appear as the fingerprint for a given materials category. The excellent model's predictive capabilities indicate that its physical prerogatives deserve consideration in the concrete world.