Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction which is “pre-stressed” by being placed under compression prior to supporting any loads. This compression is produced by the tensioning of high-strength tendons located within or adja...
Prestressed concrete is a form of concrete used in construction which is “pre-stressed” by being placed under compression prior to supporting any loads. This compression is produced by the tensioning of high-strength tendons located within or adjacent to the concrete volume, and is done to improve the performance of the concrete in service.
Prestressed concrete has developed beyond pre-tensioning to include post-tensioning, which occurs after the concrete is cast.
Tensile stress is generated in the concrete due to the pre-stressing force applied to the post-tensioned member. This part is called the anchorage zone, and the tensile stress is called bursting stress. The reinforcement of the anchorage zone is required to prevent the member from failure by the bursting stress. In order to calculate the amount of reinforcement, bursting force is computed as the transverse load perpendicular to the axial direction of the member. However, standards such as AASHTO and equations proposed by previous studies do not include shape of anchorage and duct as variables. Therefore, it is considered that it is difficult to predict the bursting force of the unbonded post-tensioned member.
In this study, finite element analysis was performed by setting the shape of anchorage, angle of tendons, duct, and eccentricity as variables to predict the bursting force in the anchorage zone. It is found through finite element analysis that the bursting force depending on the angle of tendons is influenced by length of the anchorage in the concrete. Also, it is confirmed that the cross-sectional loss of the member due to the duct is the cause of increasing the bursting force. A bursting force equation is proposed to consider all of these variables.
In order to evaluate the proposed equation, the results of finite element analysis are compared with those of the bursting force equations proposed by the previous studies and this study. In addition, the validity of the proposed equation for the design of the anchorage zone reinforcement was evaluated through the bending strength test of unbonded post-tensioned one-way slabs. As a results, the proposed equation predicts the bursting force accurately compared with the equations of the previous studies. The slab specimens reinforced by the bursting force calculated by the proposed equation was verified as satisfying the structural performance and without cracks in the anchorage zone.