Effects of the reinforcement ratio and chloride corrosion on the fatigue behavior of RC beams

Effects of reinforcement ratio (1.06%, 1.59% and 2.91%), and combined actions of initial fatigue damage and chloride corrosion (0.4 million cycles’ fatigue loading followed by 6 months’ NaCl solution wet-dry cycles) on the fatigue behavior of beams were experimental investigated. Results show: (1) directly fatigue loaded beams with reinforcement ratio of 2.91%, presented nonlinear developments of concrete tensile strains, deflections, amplitudes and stiffness; (2) these combined actions accelerated beams’ degradation, reflecting by the increased deflections, and nonlinear developments at reinforcement ratios of 1.59% and 2.91%; (3) total fatigue life of beams with these combined actions were >66% shorter than without.