2/3/2020 Prestressed I section | IDEA StatiCa

IDEA StatiCa tutorial - Prestressed I section

Welcome to IDEA StatiCa tutorial. By following it step-by-step, you will learn how to design and code-check prestressed I
section in IDEA StatiCa RCS.

1 New project
Let’s launch IDEA StatiCa, go to Concrete tab and select application RCS. We create a new project by clicking Create a
new project. In next dialog, we stay with default general Eurocode settings and select 1D staged/prestressed/composite
section as you see on screenshot.

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This will create a blank project with possibility to input prestressed sections. At the beginning we will add one more extreme,
so we can check the section at prestressing stage and also in the end of design working life. To do that, go to Sections and
add a New extreme. At last, rename the extremes and set time to 7 and 18250 days (50years).

2 Design
We start with the input of cross-section. In Cross-section tab start with I section with haunched flanges in ribbon and type
in all dimensions as you can see on picture.

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After that, you will see the cross-section in the scene and we will change its material now.

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Let´s continue with the introduction of tendons. Switch the tab in Navigator to Prestressing and run Reinforcement editor.

At first, we will input pretensioned tendons as New on edge. To see the edge numbers turn them on in ribbon. Change type
to Pre-tensioned and adjust properties as follows:

Let´s add second row of tendons by clicking on New on edge again. Change edge cover.

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We can combine prestressed tendons with post-tensioned ones in different stages. But their input is done in one place and
governed by np (order of prestressing). Let´s add last tendon as New in line. Change type, np and properties as seen in
screenshot.

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Proceed to Design member tab in navigator. We stay with default values of exposure classes and so on. The important
changes for this tutorial are in Construction stages tab. Add one more construction stage and change time for second and
third construction stage. We also tick checkbox in prestressing column for third construction stage (number 2 appears next
to it, which indicates that all tendons with np=2 will be introduced at this stage, in our case post-tensioned cable).

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In Action stages tab, one can input the effects of permanent loads as an increment for each stage in characteristic values.
Our example introduces just one permanent load at the time of prestressing. Fill in the table as follows:

Continue in Internal forces tab with transfer of All permanent effects and effects of prestressing. We will complement these
values with design values of variable effects. Please notice that previously input values have been automatically multiplied by
the corresponding partial factors (e.g. 1500*1,35=2025).

Please switch to extreme named Prestressing and click All again. We won´t introduce any variable load in this stage. After
that, we can go back into End of design working life.

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3 Reinforcement
Before the checks, we need to reinforce the section. The best option in cases of rectangular, T and I sections is to use a
template. Adjust its properties according to the screenshot.

This should be a result of your effort

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4 Check
To run the checks, just click on Results in navigator. The first thing we see after calculations is a summary of all the checks.
The fastest way to ensure everything is OK is to look at right side of the screen. In this example we see, that shear and
subsequently interaction check is not passing. This is a result of default conservative value of compressive strut angle.

To change that, go to Shear tab and change the angle manually to 38° or use strut optimization. After the change, both
extremes will be recalculated and with all checks passing.

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To see the difference between the stages, we will use Stress limitation checks as they provide quickly understandable
information about behavior of section. These are the results at the end of design working life:

On the other hand, we expect opposite fibers to be extreme without variable load. Switch Current extreme to Prestressing
and all results will be displayed.

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The interesting result at this stage would also be a decompression state which is a part of crack width results. As you can
see in results, IDEA StatiCa RCS automatically checks all the correspondent combinations with the respect to r,inf and r,sup
factors according to given exposure classes and national annexes.

5 Report
At last, we go to the Report Preview/Print. IDEA StatiCa offers a fully customizable report to print out or save in editable
format.

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We have designed, reinforced and code-checked prestressed I section according to Eurocode.

Keywords:

Concrete, prestressing, pre-tensioned, post-tensioned, tendons, ducts, reinforcement, cross-section, staged section,
prefabricated beam, beam, templates, concrete grade, exposure class, load, internal forces, load combinations, design,
Eurocode, ULS, SLS, code-check, RCS, capacity N-M-N, moment of resistance, bending, shear, strut optimization, strut
angle, torsion, interaction, stress limitation, crack width, detailing, stiffness, report

Related articles and tutorials:

Continuous beam of I-section from Robot to IDEA StatiCa

Design and check of the beam of T-section

Sample projects

Moment of resistance of prestressed section

The prestressed concrete roof slab lightened by polystyrene blocks

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