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This study investigated the effects of concrete strength and strand strands at a 2 in. (50 mm) grid spacing in pretensioned
surface condition on the transfer and development lengths of fully concrete beams was lifted by another FHWA memorandum2
bonded and various combinations of bonded and debonded strands in May of 1996 due to numerous experimental studies that
in AASHTO Type I I-beams. Furthermore, the effect of H-bars on have been conducted using 0.6 in. (15 mm) diameter
the transfer length and end-slip of the strand was investigated. Six
prestressing strands. The other 1988 FHWA restrictions
beams with lower-strength concrete and rusty strand were tested.
The results were used to evaluate the requirements of ACI and remain in effect.
AASHTO and equations by Buckner and Lane. Transfer length In a pretensioned concrete beam, the tension force in the
results showed that ACI, AASHTO, and Buckner equations are prestressing strand is transferred as a compression force into
conservative but the Lane equation is very conservative. Development the concrete via two primary bond mechanisms: wedge/
length results showed that ACI and AASHTO requirements are friction action and mechanical interlock. The length of beam
conservative for fully bonded strand and are overly conservative for required to fully transfer the force in the strand into the
debonded strand. Buckner and Lane equations are very conservative concrete is defined as the transfer length. The efficient
for fully bonded strand and decreasingly conservative for debonded
strand. H-bars were effective in decreasing strand end slip and
transfer of the prestress force from the steel strand to the
shear crack widths within the H-bar region. concrete is very important to the composite action of the
materials. Also, sufficient embedment of the strand in the
Keywords: development length; prestressed concrete; transfer length.
concrete beyond the point of maximum service load moment
must be available to provide adequate anchorage of the
strand. As flexural moments increase, internal forces in the
INTRODUCTION strand increase, requiring additional embedment length of
The use of newer and improved materials in construction the strand in the concrete for proper anchorage. The length
(such as low-relaxation prestressing strand, 0.6 in.-diameter of embedment required to fully develop the maximum
[15 mm] prestressing strand, and high-strength concrete) tension force in the strand is defined as the development
calls into question several code requirements that were length, which is also very important to the composite action
developed from research conducted using older materials, of the materials. The overall joint project was developed and
properties, and sizes. The efficient use of high-strength executed to provide additional full-scale test data on the
concrete requires a much larger prestressing force to fully transfer and development lengths of 0.6 in. (15 mm) diameter
precompress the service load tension zone of the member. prestressing strands for two key variables: concrete strength
This, in turn, requires a much larger area of prestressing and strand surface condition. The effects of the two key
strand if the strand is pretensioned to its typical value of 75% variables were investigated for fully bonded and various
of guaranteed ultimate tensile strength. The number of combinations of bonded and debonded strands when used in
strands, however, that can be placed in any given I-beam standard AASHTO I-beams. Beams tested by TTU were
section on a 2 in. (50 mm) grid spacing is limited. This limited to the lowest of the three concrete strengths used in
necessitates the use of a 0.6 in. (15 mm) diameter strand to the joint project and were limited to strands with rusty
obtain the required increase in strand area and prestressing surface conditions. Transfer and development lengths
force. The cross-sectional area of a 0.6 in. (15 mm) diameter determined in TTU’s portion of this experimental study are
strand is over 40% greater than that of a 0.5 in. (13 mm) compared with the values predicted by the current codes
diameter strand, which is the more common previously used (ACI 318,3 AASHTO-Standard,4 and AASHTO-LFRD5) and
size, thus providing over a 40% increase in the prestressing two proposed equations: one by Lane6 and one by Buckner.7
force with the same number of strands and at the same level
of prestress.
RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) placed a
moratorium1 on the use of 0.6 in. (15 mm) diameter The main significance of this research is to investigate the
prestressing strands at a 2 in. (50 mm) grid spacing for bond performance of 0.6 in.-diameter (50 mm) prestressing
pretensioned bridge applications in October 1988. The strands in fully bonded and partially debonded pretensioned
research conducted at Texas Tech University (TTU) in 1996 concrete beams. Moreover, results obtained from this
and the results reported herein are an integral part of a larger research will increase the current available database of
joint research project conducted with The University of Texas
at Austin (UT) for the Texas Department of Transportation ACI Structural Journal, V. 102, No. 3, May-June 2005.
(TxDOT) that was designed to provide additional test data MS No. 04-036 received March 1, 2004, and reviewed under Institute publication
policies. Copyright © 2005, American Concrete Institute. All rights reserved, including
for consideration toward lifting the FHWA moratorium. the making of copies unless permission is obtained from the copyright proprietors.
Pertinent discussion including author’s closure, if any, will be published in the March-
Prohibition of the use of 0.6 in. (15 mm) diameter prestressing April 2006 ACI Structural Journal if the discussion is received by November 1, 2005.
experimental data for the bond characteristics of 0.6 in.- Beam fabrication
diameter (15 mm) prestressing strands. Consequently, the All specimens tested by TTU were fabricated using a
expanded database could be used to modify the current target beam concrete strength in the 5000 to 7000 psi (34.5
specifications or to set new specifications concerning the to 48.2 MPa) range and a prestressing strand with a rusty
transfer and development lengths of 0.6 in.-diameter (15 mm) surface condition. With these conditions, three pairs of
prestressing strands. Furthermore, the effect of horizontal beams were fabricated with varying levels of bonded/
web reinforcement (H-bar) on transfer and development debonded strands: fully bonded, 50% debonded, and 60%
lengths was investigated. debonded. The specific identification codes assigned to the
six beams tested by TTU were L0R0, L0R1, L4R0, L4R1,
PROJECT OVERVIEW L6R0, and L6R1. The first code character (L) indicates a
The joint project was designed using standard AASHTO lower-strength concrete range in the test specimen. The
Type I I-beams with cast-in-place concrete deck slabs to second code character (0, 4, or 6) indicates the total number
provide additional full-scale test data on the transfer and of debonded strands used in the specimen and represents
development lengths of 0.6 in.-diameter (15 mm) prestressing fully bonded, 50% debonded, and 60% debonded, respectively.
strands. A total of 36 beams were fabricated and tested The third code character (R) indicates a rusty surface condition
during the entire project. The beams were cast in pairs with on the strand used in the test specimen. The fourth code
variations between the pairs in concrete strength, strand character (0 or 1) was an identifier used to distinguish
surface condition, and the percentage of bonded/debonded between the two beams in the like pair. Specific details as to
strands used. Table 1 provides the test matrix and target the number and location of strands, levels of initial prestress,
material values used in the overall project as well as those and lengths of debonding are provided for the three-beam
assigned to the beams tested by TTU. Each end of each beam Series L0RX, L4RX, and L6RX in Fig. 1, 2, and 3, respec-
was tested separately resulting in the four tests per pair of tively. In Specimens L0RX and L4RX, two strands were placed
beams as shown in Table 1. It should be noted that each beam in the upper region of the beams and stressed to only 92 ksi
end was tested separately for both transfer length and devel-
opment length. Thus, six beams (three pairs) resulted in Table 1—Test matrix and material target values
12 tests for transfer length and 12 tests for development
Steel strand
length. The test results were compared with ACI 318,
Bright Rusty
AASHTO-Standard, and AASHTO-LRFD code requirements
and to requirements proposed by Buckner and by Lane. Concrete Fully Debonded Fully Debonded
strength, psi bonded 50% 60% 75% bonded 50% 60% 75%
FABRICATION 5000 to 4/UT 4/UT 4/UT — 4/TTU 4/TTU 4/TTU —
7000
Material properties
The prestressing steel used in this project was a 0.6 in.-diam- 9500 to 4/UT 4/UT — 4/UT 4/UT 4/UT — 4/UT
11,500
eter (15 mm), seven-wire, low-relaxation strand with a specified
13,000 to
ultimate tensile strength of 270 ksi (1860.3 MPa) and a nominal 4/UT 4/UT — 4/UT 4/UT 4/UT — 4/UT
15,000
cross-sectional area of 0.217 in.2 (140 mm2).8,9 A rusty strand
surface condition was used in all the beams tested during
TTU’s portion of this study, whereas bright and rusty strand Table 2—Concrete material properties
surface conditions were used in UT’s portion of the study. Precast beam Deck slab
Beam 6
series ′ , psi
f ci f c′ , psi Ec, 10 psi f c′ , psi Ec, 106 psi
L0R0-1 4540 5440 4.20 6500 4.42
L0R0-2 4540 5440 4.20 6500 4.42
L0R1-3 4540 5440 4.20 6120 4.32
L0R1-4 4540 5440 4.20 6120 4.35
L4R0-1 3790 5050 3.80 5835 4.29
L4R0-2 3790 5050 3.80 5700 4.29
L4R1-3 3790 5050 3.80 6070 4.31
L4R1-4 3790 5050 3.80 5700 4.32
L6R0-1 4630 7480 5.45 6850 4.69
L6R0-2 4630 7480 5.45 5360 4.12
L6R1-3 4630 7480 5.45 6360 4.48
Fig. 1—Beam cross section of L0RX series. L6R1-4 4630 7480 5.45 6360 4.48
Fig. 2—Beam cross section of L4RX series. Fig. 4—Concrete deck slab details.
Fig. 3—Beam cross section of L6RX series. Fig. 5—Demec point measurements.
Fig. 6—Test geometry. Fig. 8—Typical smoothed strain profile for 50% debonded
strands.
Fig. 7—Typical smoothed strain profile for fully bonded Fig. 9—Typical smoothed strain profile for 60% debonded
strands. strands.
Development lengths
The development lengths were selected for Beam Series
L0RX, L4RX, and L6RX as 54, 96, and 114 in. (1372, 2438,
and 2896 mm), respectively, as discussed previously. The
experimentally determined and equation-predicted values of
the development length for each beam series are provided in
Table 5.
The development lengths for Beam Series L0RX as
predicted by the three equations are significantly longer than
the value experimentally determined, as seen in Table 5.
This shows that all three equations yield fairly conservative
Fig. 12—Comparison of short- and long-term transfer predictions with regard to development length for fully
lengths with Lane equation. bonded strands. The development lengths for the Beam
Series L4RX and L6RX as predicted by the three equations
Table 4—Equations used to compare have mixed results when compared with the values experi-
with measured data mentally determined in this project. The code equations for
Author Transfer length Development length fully bonded strand overpredict the development lengths
L d = L t ( f ps – f se )d b determined in this portion of the project. The limited data in
ACI 318 f se this portion of the project indicates that debonding some of
AASHTO - d b ≈ 50d b
L t = ----
= f ps – --- f se d b
2
Standard 3 3
the strands increases the development length of the strand. It
appears, however, that the current code factor of 2 is overly
AASHTO- Lt = 60db L d = f ps – --- f se d b
2 conservative. With respect to Beam Series L4RX and L6RX,
LRFD 3 both the Buckner and the Lane equations again yield
4f 6.4 ( f ps – f se )d b
conservative development length values for beams with
Lane L t = -------pt- d b – 5 L d = L t ----------------------------------
- + 15 some percentage of debonded strands. Both the Buckner and
f c′ f ′c
the Lane equations yield less conservative results as the
1250f Ld = Lt + λ(fps – fse)db 1.0 ≤ λ ≤ 2.0 percentage of debonded strands increases.
L t = ----------------si- d b
Ec λ = (0.6 + 40εps) or
Buckner
f si β CONCLUSIONS
≈ ----d b (0.72 + 0.102 -----1- )
3 ωp Average short-term transfer lengths increased by 15, 8,
and 5% over time for Beam Series L0RX, L4RX, and L6RX,
respectively. Also, average values of both short- and long-term
Table 5—Comparison of development lengths transfer lengths for each beam series increased as the number
Experimental
Code Buckner Lane of debonded strands increased. Average values of short-term
Beam
series ld, in. ld, in. Ratio* ld, in. Ratio* ld, in. Ratio* transfer lengths for fully bonded strands increased by 12 and
L0RX 54 94 0.57 160 0.34 171 0.32 18% as 50 and 60% of the strands were debonded, respectively.
Average values of long-term transfer lengths for fully
L4RX 96 94† 1.02 159 0.60 183 0.52
bonded strands increased by 5 and 8% as 50 and 60% of the
L6RX 114 96† 1.19 164 0.70 129 0.88 strands were debonded, respectively.
*
Ratio = ld,exp./ld,predicted. All individual short- and long-term transfer length values
†
Code requires equation values to be doubled for debonded strand. that were experimentally determined were compared with