Title: Validation of prestressed concrete high-fidelity finite element analysis
Date Published: September - October 2019
Volume: 64
Issue: 5
Page Numbers: 30 - 42
Authors: Aaron Freidenberg, Lyle R. Milliman, Benjamin Parmer, Gbenga Olaolorun, Evan Pape, and Bradley Durant
https://doi.org/10.15554/pcij64.5-03

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Abstract

Structural behavior of pretensioned concrete beams can be difficult to predict. For example, defections of pretensioned concrete beams are difficult to predict analytically but are sometimes needed for serviceability or construction considerations. A prestressed concrete beam’s response to dynamic loads or under extreme loads, such as blast, are also difficult to predict. Prestressed concrete structures other than slender beams present yet another challenge. A high-fidelity nite element analysis approach is reviewed in this paper, and it can be used to predict the entire dynamic response up to failure for pretensioned concrete structures of any geometry under any loading. To demonstrate this computational method, four pretensioned concrete beams of varying geometries were loaded quasi-statically well beyond the elastic regime of both the concrete and the steel prestressing strands and the analytical results were compared with experimental results. The method is described in detail, and the defections and strains from the simulations (including visualization of cracks) from the simulations are compared with the test data. It is demonstrated that the computer models are able to predict the entire load defection response within a maximum error of 6%. Qualitative results, namely crack patterns, are compared as well.