Measurement of Tensile Forces in a Seven-Wire Prestressing Strand Using Stress Waves
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 127, Issue 6
Abstract
This paper presents a nondestructive, stress wave technique to evaluate the prestress levels in posttensioned seven-wire strands. Seven-wire steel strands are widely used in various types of prestressed concrete structures. In this study, both experimental measurements and theoretical analysis were conducted. A commonly used 12.7 mm (1/2-in.) diameter seven-wire prestressing strand was studied. Tensile forces up to 111.2 kN (25 kips) were applied to the strand. A numerical analysis was conducted by accounting for acoustoelasticity effects and the dispersion of waves to calculate the prestress levels in the strands. This analysis provides a successful description of the behavior of a longitudinal transient wave traveling through a long, prestressed, circular strand. The calculation correlates well with the experimental observation. The results indicate that the time of flight of the stress waves can be related to the tension level in the strand. Change of wave velocities at different stress levels was evaluated and the accuracy of this technique is discussed. This study proposes a technique that can provide an efficient nondestructive measurement of stress retension levels in posttensioned steel strands.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Achenbach, J. D. ( 1973). Wave propagation in elastic solids, North-Holland, Amsterdam.
2.
Allen, D. R., and Sayers, C. M. ( 1984). “The measurement of residual stress in textured steel using an ultrasonics velocity combination technique.” Ultrasonics, 22, 179–188.
3.
Bickford, J. H. ( 1988). “Using ultrasonics to measure the residual tension in bolts.” Experimental Techniques, 12, 3s–5s.
4.
Binka, J., and Sachse, W. ( 1976). “Application of ultrasonic-pulse-spectroscopy measurements to experimental stress analysis.” Experimental Mech., 16, 448–453.
5.
Chen, H. L., He, Y., and GangaRao, H. V. S. ( 1998). “Measurement of prestress force in the rods of stressed timber bridges using stress waves.” Mat. Evaluation, 56(8), 977–981.
6.
Folk, R., Fox, G., Shook, C. A., and Curtis, C. W. ( 1958). “Elastic strain produced by sudden application of pressure to one end of a cylindrical bar: I. Theory.” J. Acoustical Soc. Am., 30, 552–558.
7.
Hughes, D. S., and Kelly, J. L. ( 1953). “Second-order elastic deformation of solids.” Physical Rev., 95(5), 1145–1149.
8.
Johnson, G. C., Holt, A. C., and Cunningham, B. ( 1986). “An ultrasonic method for determining axial stress in bolts.” J. Testing and Evaluation, 14, 253–259.
9.
Joshi, S. G., and Pathare, R. G. ( 1984). “Ultrasonic instrument for measuring bolt stress.” Ultrasonics, 22, 270–274.
10.
Machida, S., and Durelli, A. J. ( 1973). “Response of a strand to axial and torsional displacements.” J. Mech. Engrg. Sci., 15(4), 241–251.
11.
Murnaghan, F. D. ( 1951). Finite deformation of an elastic solid, Wiley, New York.
12.
Pao, Y. H., Sachse, W., and Fukuoka, H. ( 1984). “Acoustoelasticity and ultrasonic measurements of residual stresses.” Physical acoustics, W. P. Mason and R. N. Thurston, eds., Vol. XVII, Academic Press, San Diego, Calif., 61–143.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 127 • Issue 6 • June 2001
Pages: 599 - 606
History
Received: Mar 24, 2000
Published online: Jun 1, 2001
Published in print: Jun 2001
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.