• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.26 no.2A
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• pp.363-370
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• 2006

It is proposed that the electromechanical relation of the conductive materials with high electrical resistance may be used to estimate the current stress of prestressing tendons. To choose the best conductive material to this end, we studied the electromechanical relations of carbon fibers and metalic heat wires experimentally. The strain of those materials was controlled instead of the stress during the experiment. It is found that the relation of carbon fibers can be modelled by a parabolic(or hyperbolic) function in the early stage of deformation. However because the relation is not consistent when it is unloaded and reload, carbon fibers are not suitable for this purpose. Metallic heat wires show a consistent linear relation during loading and unloading in the elastic deformation and are suitable for this purpose. To estimate the electromechanics relation of metallic wires, we developed a simple formula based on the rigid plasticity. We propose a new kind of prestressing tendons whose stress can be monitored. As a side result of this study, we found that the electromechanical relation of carbon fibers without epoxy matrix becomes almost linear after a certain strain.