Fatigue life of subgrade in the cone of disturbance following an underground explosion

This paper considers the fatigue life of the subgrade beneath a cement concrete runway when an explosive has detonated at a number of depths in the subgrade and has formed a camouflet. Where the Young’s modulus of the subgrade has increased the fatigue life of the subgrade has also, in general, increased. Where the Young’s modulus has reduced the fatigue life has also reduced. As the depth of detonation increases the fatigue life, in general reduces. Consequently, following a detonation the runway repair team must determine the subgrade material property characteristics, to estimate accurately the remaining subgrade fatigue life.