Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced

Concrete Slab Bridges

Koon Wong1, Erica Smith1 and Robert Scanlon1

1
Main Roads Western Australia

Abstract Bridges with reinforced concrete slabs built in Western Australia

between the mid 1970s and the late 1980s are likely to have cold-worked steel
reinforcement. These slabs were designed to the NAASRA Bridge Standard, the
national standard current during this period. In this standard, there was no
requirement to consider long-term accumulated deterioration, or a fatigue type
effect, in reinforced concrete structures. Recent inspections of several of these
slab bridges on major transport routes show a range of cracking, which in the
more severe cases, has developed into block cracking. The design strengths
appear adequate for the current loads so questions arise as to whether or not these
cracks are a sign of accumulated damage due to repeated load events and if there
is sufficient fatigue reserve to reach their design lifespan at current loads. To
assist with long-term asset planning it is very desirable to be able to estimate the
projected life of these bridges under current loads and traffic volumes and also the
effect of increased axle group loads in reducing the expected service life.
Accumulated damage in concrete structures is a complex area and perhaps not as
well researched or understood as fatigue is in steel. As a starting point this paper
considers a methodology to estimate the fatigue life in the reinforcement in
concrete slab bridges and outlines the major factors that could affect the accuracy
of the estimation.

Introduction

Bridges with reinforced concrete slabs built in Western Australia (WA) between
the mid 1970s and the late 1980s are likely to have cold-worked steel
reinforcement. These slabs were designed to the NAASRA Bridge Standard [1],
the national standard current during this period. In this standard, there was no

V. Ponnampalam, H. Madrio and E. Ancich 298

Sustainable Bridges: The Thread of Society
AP-G90/11_099© ABC 2011
Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced Concrete Slab Bridges 299

requirement to consider long-term accumulated deterioration, or a fatigue type

effect, in reinforced concrete structures.

Recent inspections of several of these slab bridges on major transport routes

showed a range of cracking, including in the more severe cases, block cracking.
Figure 1 shows typical block cracking of a slab in one of these bridges with blocks
as close as 140 mm and cracks up to 0.6 mm in width. It is not possible to
ascertain whether existing block cracks are through cracks as the top concrete
surfaces of these bridges are sealed with road surfacing. These cracks occur
mainly close to midspans, and as they are in both directions, it is not possible to
determine whether there is preponderance for transverse or longitudinal cracks.

Fig. 1. Marked up Block Cracking of a Bridge Slab

Theoretical analysis of the bridge’s capacity indicates that strength is not an issue
for the vehicle loads currently permitted on these routes. It is of course possible
that illegal vehicle overloading and poor construction practice have contributed to
the visible damaged condition. However, overall it is considered that there is
another possible factor involved and that is accelerated deterioration due to
accumulated damage or a ‘fatigue’ effect. The design strengths appear adequate
for the current loads so questions arise as to whether or not these cracks are a sign
of accumulated damage due to repeated load events and if there is sufficient
fatigue reserve to reach their design lifespan at current loads.

The deck slabs that have been demolished due to advanced deterioration (block
cracking) indicated that in certain areas the steel reinforcement had become de-
bonded from the concrete.
300 Koon Wong, Erica Smith, Robert Scanlon

Much of the State’s road network, particularly in the north of the State, is
experiencing increased volumes of heavy vehicle traffic which is often attributable
to increased mining activity and ore cartage by road in long vehicles. To assist
with long-term asset planning and in recognising costs due to heavy vehicles, it is
very desirable to be able to estimate the accumulated damage, the rate of
deterioration and hence the estimated remaining service life of the structure.

Unfortunately there is little research or information regarding the deterioration of

concrete slabs and as a starting point, a methodology has been developed to
estimate the fatigue life in the reinforcement in reinforced concrete slab bridges.
This can then be used to give an estimation of the residual life.

This paper describes the methodology adopted to estimate the remaining fatigue
life of reinforced concrete slab bridges, and highlights the major factors that could
affect the accuracy of the estimation. The methodology is based on one
recommended to Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA) by AECOM
Consulting Engineers for use with fatigue analysis of slab bridges with cold-
worked steel reinforcement [2]. While fatigue of concrete under bending and
shear is possible, this paper concentrates on the fatigue of the reinforcement, the
element most likely to be critical under repeated loading. The methodology uses a
fatigue equation for cold-worked steel determined from the test results reported by
Roper and Hetherington [3] for Australian cold-worked steel reinforcement, and
also uses reduction factors from a study by Sonoda and Horikawa [4] to account
for the effect of moving loads on fatigue of slabs.

Fatigue Equation for Cold-worked Steel Reinforcement

Cold-worked reinforcing bars were manufactured to the requirements of the

Australian Standard AS 1302 [5] by twisting the 230 MPa grade bar. The bridge
design standard current at that time did not require concrete bridges to be designed
for fatigue. The lack of emphasis and importance placed on this mode of failure
resulted in a lack of research into the fatigue characteristics of Australian cold-
worked steel reinforcement.

Tests on Australian cold-worked steel reinforcement were carried out by Roper

and Hetherington [3], and by Behan and Warner [6]. The most comprehensive set
of tests on the fatigue characteristic of Australian cold-worked steel in reinforced
concrete beams was carried out by Roper and Hetherington [3]. Only 10 beams in
air were tested. Therefore, it is not possible to use these limited test results to
develop a design limit for fatigue; at best, the results can only be used to get an
average estimation of the fatigue behaviour for this type of steel.
Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced Concrete Slab Bridges 301

The published data from Roper and Hetherington [3] gives the values of σrt and N,
where σrt is the stress range and N is the number of cycles to fatigue failure. The
stress range σrt reported by Roper and Hetherington [3] was for beams under
pulsating loads. This had to be adjusted to σr, the stress range for loading by
moving loads by applying a reduction factor R = Rom /Rop, where Rom is the stress
reduction factor applied to stress from a static load effect to give stress from a
moving load effect for orthotropic slabs and Rop is the stress reduction factor
applied to stress from a static load effect to give stress from a pulsating load
effect [4].

Rom = 0.99 – 0.102 Log10N (1)

Rop = 1.14 – 0.093 Log10N (2)

A plot of Log10σr versus Log10N is shown in Figure 2 with the data corrected for
moving load effects. Also shown in the same figure is a plot using the original
test data from Roper and Hetherington [3]. Assuming a relation of N σr m = k, the
relationship is expressed as Log10σr = −(Log10N)/m + (Log10k)/m to enable a
straight line to be fitted. From the fitted line, the following values were
determined: m = 4.375 and k = 2.884×1015. The fatigue relation for cold-worked
steel reinforcement for moving loads is:

N σr 4.375 = 2.884 × 1015 (3)

Methodology for Estimating Fatigue Consumptions

A Goodman diagram can be defined for any arbitrary N value [2]. For this study a
value of 292,200 (equal to nCON) is used. The left end point of the σmax/fy line has
a σmin/fy value equal to the 0.057, the value reported for the tests by Roper and
Hetherington [3]. The σmax for this point is determined using this minimum stress
value and the stress range calculated using Equation 3 for N = 292,200. The
Goodman diagram is shown in Figure 3. This Goodman diagram is then used to
estimate the fatigue life consumption of the bridge. This diagram enables the
maximum stress range to be determined for a given value of minimum stress for
N cycles to failure.
302 Koon Wong, Erica Smith, Robert Scanlon

Fig. 2. Plot of Log10σr versus Log10N

Fig. 3. Goodman Diagram for N = 292,200

Grillage Modelling of Slab Bridges

Elastic stresses have to be determined to be able to carry out fatigue life estimation
of a structure. Bridge 1033, shown in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7, is located on Great
Northern Highway, north of Port Hedland in the Pilbara Region of WA. This
nine-span reinforced concrete slab bridge was built in 1979, and was subjected to
loading from all vehicles travelling north to Port Hedland until about 1985 when a
sealed route was built bypassing this bridge on the Port Headland route. Bridge
Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced Concrete Slab Bridges 303

1033 remains on Great Northern Highway and still carries multiple long road
trains and heavy vehicles on a daily basis. Internal span length is 7.5 m and the
end span length is 5.925 m (from the centre of elastomeric bearings to centre of
piers). The width between kerbs is 9.2 m. Recent reported mining activities in the
vicinity of this bridge suggest that this and several other bridges might be
subjected to higher frequency of ore bearing vehicles in the near future.

Fig. 4. Sectional Elevation and Plan of Bridge (All dimensions in metres)

Fig. 5. Section at Pier

304 Koon Wong, Erica Smith, Robert Scanlon

Fig. 6. Section at Abutment

Fig. 7. Elastomeric Bearing at Abutment (All dimensions in metres)

This paper describes an investigation carried out on Bridge 1033 to estimate the
fatigue life consumptions of the bridge, impacted by a 10 year increased volume
of quad road trains from a nearby mine carting ore south to Port Hedland. The
investigation is carried out for three different levels of cartage − VSR (Vehicle
Standard Regulation) quad road trains with each triaxle group loaded up to 20.0t,
Concessional (CON) up to 23.5t and Maximum (MAX) up to 27.0t.

The bridge is modelled as a grillage for structural analysis. Members are assumed
to have 100% torsional stiffness. The road trains are assumed to travel centrally
within a three metre width design lane placed between the kerbs to give the worse
bending effect. The bridge is assumed to have pin supports at the pier columns.
As the columns have a diameter of 500 mm, the critical hog moment near a
support is taken a distance from the centre of the support determined in
accordance with Clause 7.2.10, AS 5100.5 [7]. The bridge is assumed to have a
surfacing thickness of 50 mm and a barrier weight of 0.5 kN/m. A Dynamic Load
Allowance (DLA) of 0.3 is used for the quad road trains.
Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced Concrete Slab Bridges 305

Fatigue Consumption Estimation

The study had to estimate the axle group/load history that had occurred since the
bridge was built. The method used to obtain an estimate is discussed later in this
section.

This study also included the special provision of increased iron ore road cartage
across the bridge over a 10 year period. The proposal was that quad road trains
with 23.5t triaxles (CON) would undertake 80 trips daily over 10 years. They
travel loaded in one direction to Port Hedland and return empty. Based on this,
nCON, the total number of trips of CON vehicles over 10 years is 292,200.

To give the same amount of cartage over 10 years, nVSR, the number of trips for
VSR vehicles with 20.0t triaxles is estimated to be 360,315, and that for MAX
vehicles with 27.0 tonne triaxles 245,744, assuming a 45.9t tare weight for the
vehicle. The axle configuration and spacings of the quad road train are shown in
Figure 8.

Fig. 8. Axle Configuration and Spacings of the CON Quad Road Train

The bending moment history of the most critically stressed longitudinal member,
obtained using the grillage analysis, is shown in Figure 9 for the passage of a VSR
quad road train. The critical section is at 0.155 m from the centre of one of the
supports representing the pier columns. Similarly the bending moment history of
the most critically stressed transverse member has also been checked. This
member is one connected to the column with the critical section 0.155 m from the
centre of a support. Over the internal supports of this bridge, the amount of
transverse steel reinforcement is approximately half that of the longitudinal steel
reinforcement, and to make matters worse, the transverse steel is the second layer
thus reducing its effective depth. It is therefore important to also check the fatigue
consumption of the most critical transverse member. However, for this bridge the
critically stressed section is the longitudinal member close to the support.
306 Koon Wong, Erica Smith, Robert Scanlon

Fig. 9. Critical Longitudinal Hog Bending Moment from the Passage of a VSR Quad Road Train

A reservoir cycle counting method is used [2]. Figure 9 also shows the stress
cycles for hog bending of the longitudinal member. The stress in the
reinforcement is determined using cracked section analysis assuming steel and
concrete behaving linear elastically. It has been assumed that not more than one
loaded vehicle travels on the bridge at any instance. The fatigue consumption
from the cartage over 10 years using VSR vehicles has been determined and the
analysis is shown in Table I. The fatigue consumption is estimated as 31.9%. In
the analysis Miner’s rule [8], damage = S(ni / Ni), is used to calculate the
accumulated fatigue consumption. The number of cycles ni and the number of
cycles to fatigue failure Ni are for stress cycle i. A damage value of unity
represents full consumption.

To enable the total fatigue life of the bridge to be estimated, the fatigue effect
from heavy vehicles other than the quad trains from the mine has to be
determined. The adopted approach uses an equation described by Grundy and
Boully [8] for estimating the total number of these heavy vehicles for fatigue
design. The number of the heavy vehicles per lane per day is calculated as 52
for 2004, using MRWA’s 2004-2005 statistics. The equation used to estimate the
stress cycles from other heavy vehicles is:

Cycles = (trucks/lane/day) × 1.02382n × 365 × n × 0.125L-0.5 × route factor (4)

where n is number of years, the factor 1.0238 is the annual growth rate of vehicles,
route factor of unity was used, and L is the effective span equal to 7.5m for
negative moment over the internal support. The factor 0.125L-0.5 is the damage
equivalent M1600 per truck described in the paper by Grundy and Boully [9].
Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced Concrete Slab Bridges 307

Table I. Fatigue Consumption for Section with Longitudinal Bending (Hogging)

Stress σmax σmin σr 1 σmin / σmax,allow / σr,allow / σr,allow 3 N for nvsr /

Cycle (MPa) (MPa) (MPa) fy fy 2 fy σr 4 N5

1 187.1 62.8 124.3 0.153 0.575 0.422 172.87 1.236E+06 0.2916
2 73.0 66.4 6.5 0.162 0.579 0.417 171.06 4.639E+11 0.0000
3 180.6 137.7 42.9 0.336 0.666 0.331 135.58 4.489E+07 0.0080
4 178.0 138.8 39.3 0.338 0.668 0.329 135.04 6.498E+07 0.0055
5 176.9 138.8 38.2 0.338 0.668 0.329 135.04 7.350E+07 0.0049
6 178.0 139.5 38.5 0.340 0.669 0.328 134.68 6.969E+07 0.0052
7 164.9 141.3 23.6 0.345 0.671 0.326 133.77 5.749E+08 0.0006
8 175.8 142.0 33.8 0.346 0.672 0.325 133.41 1.185E+08 0.0030
9 126.4 119.1 7.3 0.291 0.644 0.353 144.81 1.412E+11 0.0000
S(nvsr/N) 0.3190
1
σr = σmax - σmin
2
From Goodman diagram
3
For n = 292,200
4
From N × σr4.375 = 292,200 × σr,allow4.375
5
nvsr = 360,315

Year 2004 was taken as the reference year. For the years before the reference
year, an annual reduction rate of 0.9767 was used in place of the annual growth
rate of 1.0238. The number of 0.7×M1600 vehicles was assumed to be the
number of stress cycles calculated, and analyses similar to that shown in Table I
are used to determine the fatigue consumptions by other heavy vehicles for
various time intervals. A Dynamic Load Allowance (DLA) of 0.3 is used for
0.7×M1600. The result of the study is summarised in Table II. The fatigue
consumptions to the end of mining operation and to the end of 75 years (the
design fatigue life for bridges as stipulated in AS 5100.2[9]) have been
determined. In addition, the number of years since built to reach 100%
consumption of the fatigue life have also been determined. Steel reinforcement is
assumed to have a yield strength of 410 MPa.

The fatigue life estimated for the bridge is approximately 118 years. The
estimations show that having MAX vehicles for 10 years will shorten the life of
the bridge by 47 years.

NAASRA Bridge Standard recommends limiting the working stress for cold-
worked steel reinforcement to 170 MPa. The maximum stress from the grillage
analysis for VSR, CON and MAX vehicles are 187, 207 and 227 respectively. If
a Period Permit Movement condition allows an overstress of up to 25%, only the
VSR and CON vehicles would be allowed to use the bridge.
308 Koon Wong, Erica Smith, Robert Scanlon

Table II. Summary of Fatigue Consumptions

Veh. % by % by % in No. of
Types Quad Trains others total years
To end of fatigue life consumption1 100.0 100.0 117.9
VSR From built to end of mining operation2 31.9 4.6 36.5 42.0
2
To end of 75 years from built 31.9 20.9 52.8 75.0
To end of fatigue life consumption2 31.9 68.1 100.0 106.7
CON From built to end of mining operation3 52.52 4.6 57.1 42.0
To end of 75 years from built3 52.51 20.9 73.4 75.0
3
To end of fatigue life consumption 52.5 47.5 100.0 94.6
4
MAX From built to end of mining operation 81.2 4.6 85.8 42.0
To end of 75 years from built4 81.2 20.9 102.1 75.0
To end of fatigue life consumption4 81.2 18.8 100.0 70.5
1
No additional cartage
2
VSR cartage over 10 years
3
Concessional cartage over 10 years
4
Full loading cartage over 10 years

Concluding Remarks

• The methodology for the estimation of the fatigue life consumption for Bridge
1033 has been described in this paper considering cold-worked steel
reinforcement and the effect of moving loads.
• Three different levels of loading have been considered in the case study
assuming a fixed amount of cartage of mineral ore for a proposed 10 year
mining operation.
• The factors affecting the accuracy of the fatigue consumption estimations
include:
– The fatigue equation assumed for cold-worked steel reinforcement cannot
be determined with complete certainty owing to the lack of test data on the
fatigue behaviour of Australian cold-worked steel reinforcement.
– The accuracy of the elastic stress of the reinforcement from the numerical
model. The stress in the current study is from a grillage analysis assuming
members with full torsional stiffness. If the slab has already cracked, this
assumption will not be accurate.
– Fatigue behaviour is likely to be more complicated than the simplified
model used in the present study. It is likely that bond breakdown will
occur as the structure deteriorates under increasing passage of heavy
vehicles.
Fatigue Life Estimation for Existing Reinforced Concrete Slab Bridges 309

– The accuracy of past history of heavy vehicle travels is unknown owing to

the lack of recorded data and the difficulty in predicting increased usage
from the irregular growth in heavy vehicle movements from the recent
mining booms in Western Australia. Furthermore, this bridge could have
been subjected to a much higher number of other heavy vehicles because
this bridge carried all heavy vehicles travelling north to Port Hedland
before approximately 1985. The statistics of 2004-2005, while may be
suitable to predict vehicle numbers after 2004 and possibly after 1985, may
not be accurate for the period from 1979 to 1985.
• Owing to inaccuracy inherent with any fatigue analysis of concrete bridges, it is
prudence to regularly monitor concrete bridges for symptoms of fatigue
deterioration, e.g. block cracking of concrete.
• To support the observation that many of older concrete bridges display block
cracking, more accurate numerical models have to be developed, and these
include those that can accurately represent the effects of bond breakdown and
stiffness changes due to block cracking.

References

[1] National Association of Australian State Road Authorities(1976) NAASRA Bridge Design
Specification
[2] AECOM (2009) Load Assessment for Bridge #1033, #1034 and #0857, Theoretical
determination of fatigue strength for reinforced concrete. Report prepared for MRWA.
[3] Roper H, Hetherington G B (1982) Fatigue of reinforced concrete beams in air, chloride
solution, and sea water. SP-75 Fatigue of Concrete Structures. American Concrete Institute
307–330
[4] Sonoda, Horikawa (1982) Fatigue strength of reinforced concrete slabs under moving loads.
IABSE Reports Colloquium. Fatigue of Steel and Concrete Structures, Lausanne 37:455–
462
[5] Standard Association of Australia (1982) AS 1302-1982 Steel Reinforcing Bars for
Concrete (superseded). Standards Australia, NSW, Australia
[6] Behan JE, Warner RF (1984) Fatigue properties of tempcore reinforcing bars. Report No.
63, Department of Civil Engineering, The University of Adelaide, Australia
[7] Standard Australia (2004) AS 5400.5 Bridge Design, Part 5: Concrete
[8] Miner MA (1945) Cumulative Damage in Fatigue. Journal of Applied Mechanics.
12:A159:A164.
[9] Grundy P, Boully G (2004) Fatigue design in the new Australian bridge design code,
Proceedings of the 5th Austroads Bridge Conference
[10] Standard Australia (2004) AS 5400.2 Bridge Design, Part 2: Design Loads