• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.39-52
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• 2003

A computer program has been developed for the optimum design of prestressed concrete beams under flexure. Optimum values of prestressing force, tendon configuration, and cross-sectional dimensions are determined subject to constraints on the design variables and stresses. 28 constraints have been used including flexural stresses, cover requirement, the aspect ratios for top and bottom flanges and web part of a beam and ultimate moment. The objective function contains cost of concrete, prestressing force and formwork. Using this function, it is possible to obtain minimum cost design, minimum weight or cross-sectional area of concrete design and minimum prestressing force design. Besides the idealized I-shaped cross-section, which is widely used in literature, a general I-shaped cross-section with eight geometrical design variables are used here. Four examples, one of which is available in the literature and the others are modified form of it, have been solved for minimum cost and minimum cross-sectional area designs and the results are compared. The computer program, which employs modified grid search optimization method, can assist a designer in producing efficient designs rapidly and easily. Considerable savings in computational work are thus made possible.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.1-6
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• 2017

Prestressed concrete I-girders are subject to different load types at their construction stages. At the time of strand release, i.e., detensioning, prestressed concrete girders are under the effect of dead and prestressing loads. At this stage, the camber, total net upward deflection, of prestressed girder is summation of the upward deflection due to the prestressing force and the downward deflection due to dead loads. For the calculation of the upward deflection, it is generally considered that prestressed concrete I-girder behaves linear-elastic. However, the field measurements on total net upward deflection of prestressed I-girder after detensioning show contradictory results. In this paper, camber calculations with the linear-elastic beam and elastic-stability theories are presented. One of a typical precast I-girder with 120 cm height and 31.5 m effective span length is selected as a case study. 3D finite element model (FEM) of the girder is developed by SAP2000 software, and the deflections of girder are obtained from linear and nonlinear-static analyses. Only geometric nonlinearity is taken into account. The material test and field measurement of this study are performed at prestressing girder plant. The results of the linear-elastic beam and elastic-stability theories are compared with FEM results and field measurements. It is seen that the camber predicted by elastic-stability theory gives acceptable results than the linear-elastic beam theory while strand releasing.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.605-619
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• 2009

A comparative experimental study of prestressed continuous steel-concrete composite beams was carried out. Two continuous composite beams were tested, one of which was plain continuous steel-concrete composite beam, while the other was a composite beam prestressed with external tendons. Cracking behavior and the load carrying capacity of the beams were investigated experimentally. Full plasticity was developed in the mid-span section each beam, the maximum moments attained at the internal support sections however were governed by local buckling which was related to the slenderness of composite section. It was found that in hogging moment regions, the ultimate resistance of an externally prestressed composite beam would be governed by either distortional lateral buckling or local buckling, or interactive mode of these two buckling patterns. The results show that exerting prestressing on a continuous composite beam with external tendons will increase the extent of internal force and moment redistribution in the beam. The influences of local and distortional buckling on the behaviors of the composite continuous beams are discussed. The Moment redistribution and the load carrying capacity of the prestressed continuous composite beams are evaluated, and it is found that at the ultimate state, the moment redistribution in the prestrssed continuous composite beams is greater than that in non-prestressed composite beams.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.19 no.6
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• pp.459-469
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• 2020

An external prestressed steel-bar truss unit was developed as a new strengthening technology to enhance the seismic performance of an in-plane masonry wall structure while taking advantage of the benefits of a prestressed system. The presented method consists of six steel bars: two prestressed vertical bars to introduce a prestressing force on the masonry wall, two diagonal bars to resist shear deformation, and two horizontal bars to maintain the configuration. To evaluate the effects of this new technique, four full-scale specimens, including a control specimen, were tested under combined loadings that included constant-gravity axial loads and cyclic lateral loads. The experimental results were analyzed in terms of the shear strength, initial stiffness, dissipated energy, and strain history. The efficiency of the external prestressed steel-bar truss unit was validated. In particular, a retrofitted specimen with an axial load level of 0.024 exhibited a more stable post behavior and higher energy dissipation than a control specimen with an observed complete sliding failure. The four vertical bars of the adjacent retrofitting units created a virtual column, and their strain values did not change until they reached the peak shear strength. The shear capacity of the masonry wall structure with external prestressed steel-bar truss units could be predicted using the model suggested by Yang et al.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.739-753
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• 2010

Pointing to the design requirement of prestressed space grid structure being the target cable force, the pretension scheme decision analysis method is studied when there's great difference between structural actual state and the analytical model. Based on recursive formulation of cable forces, the simulative recursive system for pretension process is established from the systematic viewpoint, including four kinds of parameters, i.e., system initial value (structural initial state), system input value (tensioning control force scheme), system state parameters (influence matrix of cable forces), system output value (pretension accomplishment). The system controllability depends on the system state parameters. Based on cable force observation values, the influence matrix for system state parameters can be calculated, making the system controllable. Next, the pretension scheme decision method based on cable force observation values can be formed on the basis of iterative calculation for recursive system. In this way, the tensioning control force scheme that can meet the design requirement when next cyclic supplemental tension finished is obtained. Engineering example analysis results show that the proposed method in this paper can reduce a lot of cyclic tensioning work and meanwhile the design requirement can be met.

• KSCE Journal of Civil and Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.29 no.1A
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• pp.9-18
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• 2009

This paper introduces the application of DE (Differential Evolutionary) method for the estimation of tensile force of the externally prestressed tendon. The proposed technique, a SI (System Identification) method using the DE algorithm, can make global solution search possible as opposed to classical gradient-based optimization techniques. The numerical tests show that the proposed technique employing DE algorithm is a useful method which can detect the effective nominal diameters as well as estimate the exact tensile forces of the externally prestressed tendon with an estimation error less than 1% although there is no a priori information about the identification variables. In addition, the validity of the proposed technique is experimentally proved using a scale-down model test considering the serviceability state condition without and with the loss of the prestressed force. The test results prove that the technique is a feasible and effective method that can not only estimate the exact tensile forces and detect the effective nominal diameters but also inspect the damping properties of test model irrespective of the loss of the prestressed force. The 2% error of the estimated effective nominal diameter is due to the difference between the real tendon diameter with a wired section and the FE model diameter with a full-section. Finally, The accuracy and superiority of the proposed technique using the DE algorithm are verified through the comparative study with the existing theories.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute Of Construction Engineering and Management
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• autumn
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• pp.174-179
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• 2002

The cable stayed roof structure of Jeju worldcup stadium is erected with correct prestressed force that is required by the structural engineer who designs this structure. This study evaluated and adapted the erection process of cable, the erection force and the measurement of cable force for Jeju worldcup stadium. The process of erection is required not only to calculate election force but also to check structural stability, post process, construction period and using cranes. Considering the site conditions and technical problems, this study can attain successfully the erection of cable stayed roof structure of Jeju worldcup stadium with allowable errors.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.303-311
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• 2019

The depth of superstructure is the summation of the height of girders and the thickness of the deck floor. In this study, it is aim to determine the maximum span length of girders and minimum depth of the superstructure of prestressed concrete I-girder bridge. For this purpose the superstructure of the bridge with the width of 10m and the thickness of the deck floor of 0.175m, which the girders length was changed by two meter increments between 15m and 35m, was taken into account. Twelve different girders with heights of 60, 75, 90, 100, 110, 120, 130, 140, 150, 160, 170 and 180 cm, which are frequently used in Turkey, were chosen as girder type. The analyses of the superstructure of prestressed concrete I girder bridge was conducted with I-CAD software. In the analyses AASHTO LRFD (2012) conditions were taken into account a great extent. The dead loads of the structural and non-structural elements forming the bridge superstructure, prestressing force, standard truck load, equivalent lane load and pedestrian load were taken into consideration. HL93, design truck of AASHTO and also H30S24 design truck of Turkish Code were selected as vehicular live load. The allowable concrete stress limit, the number of prestressed strands, the number of debonded strands and the deflection parameters obtained from analyses were compared with the limit values found in AASHTO LRFD (2012) to determine the suitability of the girders. At the end of the study maximum span length of girders and equation using for calculation for minimum depth of the superstructure of prestressed concrete I-girder bridge were proposed.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.5
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• pp.595-609
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• 2022

Prestressed composite steel-concrete beams are still a technology restricted to repair sites of large-scale structures and spans. One of the reasons for that is the absence of standard frameworks and publications regarding their design and implementation. In addition, the primary normative codes do not address this subject directly, which might be related to a scarcity of papers indicating methods of design that would align the two technics, composite beams and external prestressing. In this context, this paper proposes methods to analyze the sizing of prestressed composite beams submitted to pre-tension and post-tension with a straight or polynomial layout cable. This inquiry inspected a hundred and twenty models of prestressed composite beams according to its prestressing technology and the eccentricity and value of the prestressing force. The evaluation also included the ratio between span and height of the steel profile, thickness and typology of the concrete slab, and layout of the prestressing cables. As for the results, it was observed that the eccentricity of the prestressing force doesn't significantly influence the bending resistance. In prestressed composite beams subjected to a sagging moment, the ratio L/d can reach 35 and 30 for steel-concrete composite slabs and solid concrete slabs, respectively. Considering the negative bending moment resistance, the value of the L/d ratio must be less than or equal to 25, regardless of the type of slab. When it comes to the value of the prestressing force, a variation greater than 10% causes a 2.6% increase in the positive bending moment resistance and a 4% decrease in the negative bending moment resistance. The pre-tensioned composite beams showed a superior response to flexural-compression and excessive compression limit states than the post-tensioned ones.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.917-933
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• 2016

In a prestressed concrete bridge, the magnitude of the prestress force (PF) decreases with time. This unexpected loss can cause failure of a bridge which makes prestress force identification (PFI) critical to evaluate bridge safety. However, it has been difficult to identify the PF non-destructively. Although some research has shown the feasibility of vibration based methods in PFI, the requirement of having a determinate exciting force in these methods hinders applications onto in-service bridges. Ideally, it will be efficient if the normal traffic could be treated as an excitation, but the load caused by vehicles is difficult to measure. Hence it prompts the need to investigate whether PF and moving load could be identified together. This paper presents a synergic identification method to determine PF and moving load applied on a simply supported prestressed concrete beam via the dynamic responses caused by this unknown moving load. This method consists of three parts: (i) the PF is transformed into an external pseudo-load localized in each beam element via virtual distortion method (VDM); (ii) then these pseudo-loads are identified simultaneously with the moving load via Duhamel Integral; (iii) the time consuming problem during the inversion of Duhamel Integral is overcome by the load-shape function (LSF). The method is examined against different cases of PFs, vehicle speeds and noise levels by means of simulations. Results show that this method attains a good degree of accuracy and efficiency, as well as robustness to noise.