Fatigue of cold worked ribbed reinforcing bar—a fracture mechanics approach

A theoretical method for the prediction of fatigue life of structural members containing external stress raisers has been developed. The method is based on a linear elastic fracture mechanics approach to fatigue. The theory has been applied to fatigue of Torbar steel in concrete beams. The required parameters for such application were obtained from fatigue tests on samples and finite element analysis of cracked bars. Comparisons between the theory and experimental data taken from other investigations have shown that the theory predicts a reasonable lower limit fatigue life of Torbar in concrete beams. The theory has also successfully predicted the effect of the minimum stress on the fatigue life of this type of bar.