Prestress force effect on fundamental frequency and deflection shape of PCI beams

The prestress force effect on the fundamental frequency and deflection shape of Prestressed Concrete I (PCI) beams was studied in this paper. Currently, due to the conflicts among existing theories, the analytical solution for properly considering the structural behavior of these prestressed members is not clear. A series of experiments were conducted on a large–scale PCI beam of high strength concrete with an eccentric straight unbonded tendon. Specifically, the simply supported PCI beam was subjected to free vibration and three-point bending tests with different prestress forces. Subsequently, the experimental data were compared with analytical results based on the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory. It was proved that the fundamental frequency of PCI beams is unaffected by the increasing applied prestress force, if the variation of the initial elastic modulus of concrete with time is considered. Vice versa, the relationship between the deflection shape and prestress force is well described by the magnification factor formula of the compression–softening theory assuming the secant elastic modulus.