Computer-Simulated Flexural Tests of Partially Prestressed Concrete Sections

Partially prestressed concrete is redefined in terms of three variables related to the total amount of steel reinforcement, the proportion of high strength to total amount of steel reinforcement, and the degree of prestressing of the high grade steel. This definition enables any structural concrete section design to be identified by a point in the three dimensional space of the chosen variables. Limit states for all types of structural concrete sections are also defined. A computer program for the analysis of structural concrete sections is developed and used to trace the loading history of 264 computer-simulated tests. Two series of tests explore the extreme cases of maximum permissible prestressing and maximum mixed reinforcement index. The effects of the three primary variables above inelastic behavior and ductility of partially prestressed concrete sections are investigated.