Anchorage zones in prestressed concrete members

Abstract

Synopsis In an anchorage zone of a post-tensioned concrete member tensile stresses are induced in different localities. The way in which these arise is briefly discussed. A series of simple anchorage zone tests is reported, in which the forces resisted by reinforcement placed to resist bursting tensile forces were monitored. The test results together with a series of finite analyses show that once a bursting crack forms the resultant loss of transverse stlflness in the member leads to a decrease in the magnitude of the bursting force and a change in its location. A method of assessing the magnitude of this force once a crack has formed is presented.