Fatigue Testing of High Strength Concrete Beams at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility

摘要

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recommends that design flexural strength of portland cement concrete (PCC) should be between 600-700 psi for "most airport applications." In Construction Cycle 6 at the FAA's National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF), slabs were constructed at flexural strengths outside this range and subjected to full-scale aircraft traffic. In conjunction with the full scale tests, the FAA conducted fatigue tests on concrete beams from the same mixes. Fatigue loads were applied to beams at stress ratios from 70% to 90% of the rupture modulus. Beams from the high-strength concrete performed in fatigue similar to lower-strength concrete. The laboratory tests did not indicate reduced fatigue life for strengths above the normal design flexural strength range. Results of this study do not rule out the possibility that some high-strength mixes may perform poorly in fatigue. Further research is recommended to identify what mixes may be susceptible to poor fatigue performance.