Prestressed high-strength concrete beams under torsion and bending

Test results of 16 rectangular prestressed high-strength concrete beams subjected to the combined action of torsion and bending are presented. The major variables were the ratio of torsion to the bending moment (T/M) and the prestressing level. The beams were subjected to two levels of prestressing, corresponding to 0.05fc' and 0.10fc', where fc' is the compressive strength of concrete (about 90 MPa). Test results showed that the torque-twist relations for the test beams were approximately linear up to cracking and thereafter became nonlinear. Increasing the T/M ratio and the prestressing level increases both torsional stiffness and strength. Several theoretical methods available in the literature developed for normal-strength concrete were used to predict the torsional strength of the tested high-strength concrete beams. Interaction equations were used along with some other methods to predict the torsional capacity in the presence of a bending moment. Good agreement was observed between the experimental and theoretical results.Key words: beams (supports), bending, cracking, failure, high-strength concrete, interaction diagram, prestressed concrete, stiffness, torsion, torsional strength.