PRESTRESSED CONCRETE STRUCTURES

MODULE 3

ANALYSIS OF MEMBERS

Prepared by:
Dr. Amlan K. Sengupta
Dr. Devdas Menon

OUTLINE
Analysis of Members Under Flexure
Analysis of Ultimate Strength
Variation of Stress in Steel
Condition at Ultimate Level State
Analysis of Rectangular Section

Welcome back to Prestressed Concrete Structures. Today, we are covering the fourth
lecture of Module 3 on Analysis of Members. In today’s lecture, we shall cover the analysis for
ultimate strength, for members under flexure, under that, we shall understand the variation of
stress in steel throughout the loading history and we shall also learn about the condition at the
ultimate limit state. And finally, we shall move on to the analysis of a rectangular section. First,
the analysis for ultimate strength, a prestressed member usually remains uncracked under
service loads. The analysis under service loads assumes the material to be linear elastic. It is
what you learned we have studied to know for the analysis under service loads, we have
assume a linear stress-strain diagram for concrete and for steel. After cracking, the behavior of
a prestressed member is similar to a non-prestressed reinforced concrete member. With
increasing load, the stress versus strain behavior of concrete becomes non-linear. Close to the
yielding of the prestressing steel, the stress versus strain behavior of steel also becomes non-
linear. This makes the analysis of ultimate strength different from the analysis of the service
loads. On the analysis of the service loads, we have assumed both of materials to be linear
elastic. But when we are dealing on analysis for ultimate strength, there, the concrete is non-
linear and it has done into the elastic region, and also, the steel has moved into the non-linear
elastic region and if it is started to yield. The analysis of a prestressed member for ultimate
strength is similar to that of a reinforced concrete member. The analysis aims to calculate the
ultimate moment capacity (ultimate moment of resistance). The capacity is compared with the
demand at ultimate loads. In reinforced concrete analysis, we follow the limit straight analysis
by defining the ultimate strength of a member. The analysis of ultimate strength of a
prestressed concrete member is very similar to that of the reinforced concrete member, and
then once you find the strength, we compare it with the demand under ultimate factor loads
and make sure that the strength or the capacity is greater than the demand. There is an
inconsistency in the traditional analysis at the ultimate state. The force demand is calculated
based on elastic analysis, with superposition for the different load cases using the load factors.
But the capacity is calculated based on the non-linear limit state analysis. Now this
inconsistency has state after the introduction of the limit state method but can be calculating
the demand using linear analysis by the principle of superposition being applied on different
load cases. But else, when we are trying to find the capacity, we are using a non-linear behavior
of a material. And this inconsistency is justified by the following arguments. First, the moment
versus curvature relationship is almost linear till the yielding of the steel. Although there is
some non-linearity in that concrete, yet the non-linearity is not reflected to get the strength
before the yielding of the steel. Second, the moment at yield is slightly lower than the ultimate
moment capacity. When we are talking of the capacity, almost linear behavior is up to the yield
moment which is slightly lower than the ultimate capacity. That is in the strength axis, almost
linear close to its ultimate capacity. The third argument is that the calculated moment demand
for a load case is based on elastic analysis that is within moment at yield. Say if I pick up the
load case for the dead load, or if I pick up the load case for the live load, then the moment
demand for any of this particular load case is within the yield moment, and hence,
superposition for the different load cases is applicable to find out the force and ultimate. Of
course, superposition cannot be used to calculate the deflection at ultimate. And here we have
to be careful that we may apply the principle of superposition to find out the demand which is
in the force axis but we cannot used the principle of superposition to find out the deflection at
ultimate because after yield there is a substantial deformation and this plastic deformation will
not be properly accounted for if we used the principle of superposition for deflection.

The second important aspect of the analysis of ultimate strength is to understand the
variation of stress in the steel. In non-prestessed reinforced concrete members, the tension and
consequently the stress in steel increase almost proportionately with increasing moment till
yielding. The lever arm between the resultant compression and tension remains almost
constant. We have seen this in the analysis under service loads that for the reinforced concrete
member as the load is increase or as the external moment is increase, tension in the steel,
enhance the stress in the steel increases almost proportionately till it start to yield. The lever
arm between the resultant compression and tension remains more or less constant. In
prestressed concrete members, the tension and consequently the stress in prestressing steel
increase slightly with increasing moment till cracking. The increase in moment changes the
lever arm significantly. So this is in contrast with to the reinforced concrete, that the
prestressed concrete as the loads is increase or as the external moment increase, the tension in
the steel does not increase significantly if just increases slightly. That else, the lever arm
between the compression and tension increases as the moment increases. The compression
shifts from the level of the prestressing steel upwards and that increase in the level arm is able
to resist the increasing external moment. This was explained previously in the Module of
“Analysis Under Service Loads”. Only after cracking, the stress in steel increases rapidly with
moment. That is, before cracking the increase in the stress in steel is not significant but after
cracking there is a significant increase in the stress in the steel and then reaches a value close to
its ultimate. The following sketch explains the variation of the stress in prestressing steel (f p)
with increasing load. In the sketch, what you see is that, first, the prestressed member has been
stretch with the stress of a value fp0 in attendance. Now, as the self-weight is acting, it can act
either while the member is hogging up or it can act when the shuttering of the false work is
removed. Now when the self-weight acts, there is a slight increase in the fp0 and then with time
there is a drop in the prestressing force due to the long time effects of shrinkage, creep and,
relaxation and stabilizes to the value of fpe. Now the drop in the prestressed had been just
denoted by a vertical line in the sketch because we are not plotting this with respect to time.
We have plotting the variation of the stress with respect to the increasing load. Now from the
self-weight, once the service load starts acting the stresses again increases slightly until the
member cracks. Now for the type 1 or type 2 member, the member do not crack and hence the
variation of the stress in the steel is very small and hence it is neglected in the analysis under
service loads. We assumed that the stress in the steel remains constant at the value of f pe. Now
after cracking, there is a sudden increase in the stress in the steel. Here you see that both for
unbounded and bonded tendons , there is a jump in stress in the steel, there has been a
redistribution stresses between the concrete and the steel and then when the load is increase
farther, the stress increases till it reaches an ultimate value corresponding to the ultimate
capacity of the member. For bonded tendons, the stress is higher and the cracks varies from
unbounded tendon the average stress over the length is not as high as the local stress for
unbounded tendon. The above sketch assumes that the section is failing in flexure. Other types
of failure are not considered here. The stress variables in the sketch are defined as follows: fpe
is the effective prestress after time dependent losses; fp0 is the prestress after intial losses and
fpu is the ultimate stress in prestressing steel corresponding to the ultimate capacity of the
member. Let’s try to understand this variation in a bit more details. When the pre-tensioned
member is lifted from pre-stressing bed, the pre-stress increases beyond fp0 due to bending
under self-weight. For a pre-tensioned member, the self-weight starts acting then the member
is lifted from the pre-stressing bed. Now if during the transfer of pre-stress, if the member
holds up that means the pre-stress is high enough to counteract the self-weight then the self-
weight will of course be acting right after transfer. Now for a post-tensioned member, if the
member is post-tensioned in the casting bed itself then the self-weight may not act during pre-
stressing but if the post-tensioned member is pre-stressed at the side when it is already being
supported only at the edges then the self-weight is acting even before the pre-stress is applied.
Hence, this increase from fp0 to a value slightly higher than fpo is due to the self-weight of the
member. The time different losses over a period reduce the pre-stressed to the effective value
fpe. The drop in the pre-stress is represented by this vertical line and this occurs over a several
years over the service life of the member. When the external load starts acting, the pre-stress
increases slightly beyond fpe. The increase is higher in bonded tendons due to the local
increase in stress at the region of higher moment. When the service load is acting, the stress
will increase from fpe to a value which is slightly higher than fpe and in bonded tendons, the
value is higher because the stress at the region of higher moments is higher than the stress in
the region of lower moments whereas for an unbounded tendon, the stress is average
throughout the length of the member. This increase in pre-stress is neglected in the analysis of
service roads. After cracking, the stress increases rapidly till it reaches fpu. After cracking, as I
say before that the behavior of pre-stressed concrete member is very similar to a reinforced
concrete and the stress in the steel increases quite rapidly till it reaches the ultimate value. The
increase is higher for bonded tendons due to local increase in stress at the cracks. The stress is
not uniform along the length for a bonded tendon. For a bonded tendon, the stress is higher at
the regions of high moments and after it cracks, the stress is higher at the location of the
cracks. It is not uniform along the length. Whereas for an unbonded tendon, the stress remains
uniform along the length at the failure of the beam, it may not reach as high as the local stress
for bonded tendons. And hence, we observe that the stress that is achieved in an unbonded
tendon is not as high as the local stress in a bonded tendon. Thus, we have understood the
variation of the stress in the steel as the load is increased. To summarize quickly, the stress
does not increase much during the service load but after it cracks the increase in the stress is
substantially high and we cannot consider that the stress is remaining constant at fpe.

Next, we are trying to understand the conditions at ultimate limit state. In the limit states
method of analysis, the limit state of collapse or the ultimate state of a member under flexure
is defined as the state when the extreme concrete compressive strain reaches a value of
0.0035. This is the definition of failure of both a reinforced concrete member and a pre-stressed
concrete member as for the Indian codes. At the ultimate state, the extreme concrete
compressive strain has a value of 0.0035. This is represented as fcu. Thus, fcu = 0.0035 at the
ultimate state. Depending on the amount of pre-stressing steel, a section can be under
reinforced or over reinforced. For an under reinforced section, the amount of pre-stressing
steel is less and the steel yields before the extreme concrete strain reaches 0.0035. That means
the concept is similar to reinforced concrete that in a reinforced concrete we have learned that
an under reinforced section means that the steel will yield before the concrete reaches its
ultimate strain. Here also we are saying that the steel will have substantial yielding before the
concrete reaches its ultimate strain. For an over reinforced section, the amount of steel is high
and the steel does not yield at ultimate. Just like reinforced concrete, we had defining an over-
reinforced section as that below yielding in the steel before the concrete reaches its ultimate
strength. The transition situation is called a balanced condition and we are familiar with it in a
reinforced concrete analysis.
Let’s try to understand the profile of the strains at the ultimate for the three situations. For the
profile at the left, at ultimate the strain of the extreme concrete fiber is fcu and the strain in the
pre-stressing steel is higher than the strain for balance. Now here we can see that the linear
strain diagram comes from the assumption that the plane sections remain plane till the failure.
And next we have to also note the strain compatibility condition at the level of the pre-stressing
steel. Now here is the difference between the reinforced concrete and pre-stressed concrete. In
a reinforced concrete, the strain in steel is the same as the strain in the concrete at the level of
the steel whereas in pre-stressed concrete, there is a permanent difference between the strain
in the pre-stressing steel and the strain in the concrete. That means even at ultimate, that
difference will be there and that difference is being denoted as epsilondec or which is called the
strain at decompression of the steel. The total strain in the prestressing tendon is equal to the
strain in the concrete at the level of the steel plus epsilondec and for an under-reinforced
section it should be greater than epsilonpu balance. On the other hand, if we look at the right
diagram, there the strain in the steel will be lower than epsilonpu balance when the extreme
compressive strain in the concrete is epsiloncu whereas the transition, we are saying that it is
a balanced condition, where the strain in the prestressing steel is equal to epsilonpu balance.

In the previous sketch, epsilondec is the strain in the steel at the decompression of concrete
and epsilonpu balance is the strain in the steel at balanced condition. As mentioned under
material properties, the prestressing steel does not have a definite yield point.

Here, we are seeing a difference between a mild steel behaviour in reinforced concrete and the
behaviour for prestressing steel. Prestressing steel does not have a definite yield point like mild
steel. The 0.2% proof stress is defined when the steel reaches in an inelastic strain of 0.2%. That
means the 0.2% proof strain is like an equivalent yield point which is defined for prestressing
steel. We had learned about this when we studied the material properties of the prestressing
steel. Hence, unlike reinforced concrete, the transition from under-reinforced to over-
reinforced section is gradual and there is no definite balanced condition. In reinforced concrete,
we had defined a definite balanced condition. We had for mild steel. We know a definite yield
point the code had given a certain value of the strain in the steel which if the steel is equal to at
the failure of the section. Then, we say that the section is balanced. But in prestressed
concrete, we do not have any definite balanced condition because the steel itself does not have
a definite yield point.

IS: 1343-1980 does not explicitly enforce an under-reinforced section. It just limits the
maximum stress in the steel. But the Indian railway standard concrete bridge code requires
that the strain in the outermost tendon is not less than the following: which is equal to 0.87
times the characteristic strength divided by the modulus of prestressing steel which is as, if the
elastic component plus a plastic strain of 0.005. This above value can be considered to be the
strain in the steel at balanced condition.

Since, we do not have a definite balance condition. If we want to define a certain balance
condition, then we need to define a particular value of the strain which the steel should have
when the concrete is reaching its final strain. Depending on the code, we can define a balanced
condition. Here we see a value, which is recommended by the Indian railway standard code for
the concrete based design. Next, we are moving on to the assumptions of the analysis at
ultimate strength.

The analysis of members under flexure for ultimate strength considers the following:
First the plane sections remain plane at ultimate. This is the Bernoulli’s hypothesis which is the
basic assumption in flexural analysis Second is the perfect bond is retained between concrete
and prestressing steel for bonded tendons. That is we assume strain compatibility between the
concrete at the level of the steel and the prestressing tendon, till the failure of the member.
This is not exactly true around the cracks, where there is a disruption of the bond. But in an
average sense, we assume that there is strain compatibility between the strain in the concrete
and the steel. Third the tension in concrete is neglected. This is an assumption to simplify our
calculations. And the fourth, the design stress versus strain curves of concrete and steel are
considered. In service load analysis, we are assuming a linear elastic behaviour for both the
materials. We just need to know the moduli for the two materials, but in the analysis for
ultimate strength, we should know the full design stress-strain curve for both the concrete and
the steel.

The method of analysis will be presented for three types of sections. First a rectangular section:
A rectangular section is easy to cast, but it is not an efficient section. Second is a Flanged
section: A precast flanged section, with flanges either at top or bottom needs costlier
formwork. But, the section is efficient in flexure. A flanged section can also be made of precast
web and cast-in-place slab. Third we shall also learn about partially prestressed section: A
section in a member contains both prestress and non-prestressed reinforcement. The
comparison of different types of sections will be again elaborated when we study the design of
prestressed members. Here we have just got some brief idea about the different types of
sections. One type of section which we shall study is the rectangular section. The other type of
section is the flanged section and the third type of section is the partially prestressed section
which contains both the prestress and non-prestressed reinforcement. Next, we are moving on
to the analysis of a rectangular section.

The following sketch shows the beam cross section, strain profile, stress diagram and force
couple at the ultimate state. Before we start the analysis, we should understand these
individual diagrams. The important variables in a rectangular section are the breadth of the
section which is represented by b, the depth of the CGS which is represented by d. At ultimate
we first draw the strain diagram. We say that the strain is linear along the depth, which is from
the assumption that plane sections remain plane. We also say that at failure the ultimate strain
in the concrete is 0.0035 and the strain in the steel is equal to the strain in the concrete at the
level of the steel, plus the permanent strain difference which we are representing as
epsilondec.

From the strain diagram, we move on to the stress diagram. We denote the depth of the
neutral axis. The neutral axis is the level, where the strain in the section is zero. The depth is
represented as xu for ultimate. In the stress profile, we are having a non-linear curve for the
concrete, which we get from the design stress-strain curve with a maximum value of stress,
which is equal to 0.447 times the characteristic compressive strength. The stress in the
prestressing steel is denoted as fpu, which corresponds to the strain of epsilonpu.

To determine fpu, we need the design stress strain-curve for the prestressing steel. From
the stress diagram, we move on to the force couple. The resultant compression is represented
as cu which acts at a depth of 0.42 times xu and the resultant tension Tu is equal to the area of
the prestressing steel which is denoted as Ap times the stress which is fpu.

The constitutive relationship for concrete that we use is parabolic up to a strain of epsilon0 and
then the stress is constant up to the ultimate strain of 0.0035. From the design curve, we can
find out the expression of the resultant compression.

This expression is Cu is equal to 0.36 times the characteristic strength, times the depth of the
neutral axis, times the width of the rectangular section and Tu is equal to Ap times fpu as I said
before. For the analysis at ultimate strength, we do it based on three principles of mechanics.

First, the equation of the equilibrium of the forces. The axial forces are under equilibrium that
means Tu is equal to Cu which gives Ap times fpu is equal to 0.36 fck times xu times b.

Second equilibrium equation is that the ultimate moment of resistance is equal to the tension,
times the lever arm. The lever arm is given as the depth of the prestressing steel minus
the depth of the resultant compression, which is given as 0.42xu. Hence, the lever arm is
d minus 0.42xu. We can get an expression of the ultimate moment capacity, which is equal to
Tu times the lever arm. Tu is equal to Ap times fpu and the lever arm is d minus 0.42 xu.

The second principle that we use is the compatibility of strain and which also involves
assumption of plane sections remaining plane. We are able to relate the strain in the steel with
thus ultimate strain in the concrete. By the similarity of triangles, we can write that xu divided
by d is equal to 0.0035, which corresponds to the upper triangle divided by the sum of the
strains at the extreme compression fiber. The strain in the concrete at the level of the steel,
which is given as 0.0035 plus epsilonpu minus epsilondec. Epsilonpu minus epsilondec is the
strain in the concrete at the level of the prestressing steel at the ultimate state of the member.
This equation is the compatibility equation relating the strains in the prestressing steel and
strain in the concrete.

The third principle that we use is the constitutive relationships. The constitutive relationship
for concrete has already been considered in the expression of Cu. This is based on the area
under the design stress-strain curve for concrete under compression.

For the steel, the constitutive relationship can be expressed as a function fpu is equal to f of
epsilonpu, where f of epsilonpu represents the design stress-strain curve for prestressing
steel under tension.
We have seen this curve before under material properties, that given the design stress-strain
curve. For any value of epsilonpu, we can determine the stress in the steel which will be
represented as fpu.

In the analysis of a rectangular section, the following variables are given. We know the
geometry of the member. That means, we know b and d, we know the area of the
prestressing steel that means Ap is known. We also know epsilondec, which is the strain in the
prestressing steel at decompression of concrete or which is the strain difference between the
concrete and the steel at the level of the steel. How do we know that? I am explaining it later.

We also know the material strength of the two materials for the concrete, which is represented
as fck and for the steel which is represented as fpk. What are the unknown quantities that we
need to find out?

The first one, what we are looking for is Mur which is the ultimate moment capacity or the
ultimate moment of resistance. Next, we have to know xu, which is the depth of neutral
axis at ultimate. We also need to know epsilonpu, the strain in the prestressing steel and fpu
which is the stress in the prestressing steel at the ultimate. The objective of the analysis
is to find out Mur from the equation that we have in our hand.

The simultaneous equations 3d-1 to 3d-6 can be solved iteratively. This procedure of analysis
is called the strain compatibility analysis. The steps are as follows:

First we assume a depth of the neutral axis, which is Xu. Second we calculate epsilonpu from
equation 3d-5, which is the strain compatibility equation. By rewriting the equation in a
slightly different form, we can find out that epsilonpu is equal to 0.0035 divided by xu by d.
Since, we know xu, we know the denominator. This term minus 0.0035 plus epsilondec, which
is also known? The third step is calculating epsilon fpu from equation 3d-6, which is the design
stress-strain curve for the concrete. That means once we know epsilonpu we can calculate fpu.
Calculate Tu from equation 3d-2, where Tu is the total force which is equal to the area of the
prestressing tendon times the stress.

Next, we calculate Cu from equation 3d-1 which is Cu is equal to 0.36fckxub. Here, we are
using the design stress-strain curve of the concrete and then we check the first equilibrium
equation which is 3d-3 that whether Tu is equal to Cu as for our calculations.

If it is not satisfied, then we have to change xu. If the calculated Tu is less than Cu then decrease
xu. If the calculated Tu comes out greater than Cu, then increase xu. That means, if Tu is less
than Cu, we should reduce xu. That means, we have less compression in concrete and more
tension in the steel. But, if the calculated Tu comes out to be greater than Cu then we have to
increase xu. That means, give more compression in the concrete and less tension in the steel.
We do this iteration process till the values of Tu and Cu are reasonably close. Once, we have
converged to this situation then we calculate Mur from equation 3d-4 which is given as Tu
times the lever arm. The capacity Mur is then compared with the demand under ultimate loads.
In the strain compatibility method, the difficult step is to calculate xu and fpu which we have
to do in an iteration process. The IS: 1343-1980 allows to calculate these values approximately
from table 11 and table 12, Appendix B, based on the amount of prestressing steel. The later
is expressed as a reinforcement index omegap. That means, the code gives us a simple way
to calculate the depth of the neutral axis at ultimate and the stress in the prestressing steel at
ultimate but these values are approximate. These values are given in two tables as a function of
a variable which is a reinforcement index omegap which is equal to the area of the prestressing
steel times the characteristic strength divided by the area of the concrete section which is b
times d time the characteristic strength of the concrete.

The tables give the values for this type of sections. Table 11 gives for pre-tensioned members
and post-tensioned members with bonded tendons. Table 12 gives the values for post-
tensioned members with un-bonded tendons. As I had said earlier, that the analysis of pre-
tensioned members and post-tensioned members with bonded tendons are similar because,
we assume strain compatibility for both of them. Whereas, the analysis for post-tensioned
members with unbonded tendons are different, because there we cannot assume strain
compatibility at a section. We assume a compatibility of the overall deformation of the
member.

To understand the tabulated results, this plot shows the values of fpu which is given, which is
normalized with respect to the maximum allowed stress 0.87fpk in table 11 and these values
are given with respect to omegap. As omegap increases, we observe that beyond a certain
value fpu will reduce. If we put more and more steel beyond a certain point the stress in the
steel will go down and that is quite understandable. On the other hand, if we are trying to
reduce the amount of steel then the stress in steel will go up till it reaches the maximum value
which is allowed by the code. The code does not allow the stress in the steel to go beyond
0.87fpk.

On the other hand, if we try to understand the variation of the depth of the neutral axis then as
the amount of steel is increased or as omegap is increased the depth of the neutral axis also
increases because If we have more and more steel, we need more and more concrete to
balance the force in the steel and hence the depth of the neutral axis also increases with the
increasing amount of the reinforcement. Thus the values given in the table, although they are
approximate, they follow our intuition of the behavior of prestressed concrete members.

Next, we are trying to understand the analysis of a rectangular section with the help of an
example. A prestressed concrete beam produced by pre-tensioning method has a rectangular
cross section of 100 millimeters times 160 millimeters which is breadth times the total depth. It
is prestressed with 10 numbers of straight 2.5 millimeters diameter wires. Each wire is stressed
up to a load of 6.8 Kilo newtons. The design load versus strain curve for each wire is given in a
tabular form. The grade of concrete is M40. Estimate the ultimate flexural strength of the
member by the strain compatibility method.
The given section is rectangular, here the wires is given from which we can find out the depth
of the CGS which is 40 mm below the CGC and the grade of the concrete is given which is M40
and the design load versus strain curve for each wire is given. This is different from the stress-
strain curve because, sometimes the load versus strain curve is readily available from the tests
and that can be used to calculate the ultimate strength of the member. The design load versus
strain curve is given in a tabular form for the range under consideration. Here we are not
mentioning the values outside this range, because we do not need that in our calculation. For a
strain of 0.006 the load in a wire is 5.4 Kilonewtons. Similarly, for a strain of 0.014 the load is
10.7 Kilonewtons.

In the solution, first we are calculating the initial strain in the prestressing wires epsilonpi to
calculate the strain at decompression of the concrete. Since, we know the initial load in each
wire, we can calculate the strain from the given load versus strain table and that strain has
come out to be 0.0073. Since, for a pre-tensioned member the strain at decompression is same
as epsilonpi. We can write epsilondec is equal 0.0073. That means given the prestressing force
we are able to calculate the strain at decompression and this is a quantity which is known to us.
We also know the depth of the CGS which is equal to 120 millimeter.

We are using the strain compatibility method to solve this problem and the strain compatibility
method is an iterative procedure where, we start by assuming a depth of neutral axis. This
iterative procedure can be nicely written down in a tabular form to have the results in a nice
compact way. In this table, we are first writing the assumed depth of neutral axis which is xu.
We are writing the normalized value xu by d. From the compatibility equation, we can find out
the strain in the concrete at the level of the steel which is epsilonpu minus epsilondec. Once,
we know this we can calculate the strain in the steel because epsilondec we have already
calculated. Then from the strain we are calculating the load. Here it is a different from a
conventional analysis instead of calculating the stress, we are calculating the load because the
load is given in the form of a table. Once, we know the load in single wire, we can find the total
tensile force in the tendons which is 10 times the load in a single wire, since we have 10 wires
and we can also calculate the compression because once we have assumed the depth of neutral
axis we know the expression of the compression and then we are checking the first equilibrium
equation that what is the values of Tu and Cu with respect to each other? What we find is we
first sorted with an assumed depth of 60 millimeters which is half of the effective depth. xu by d
is half which is 0.5 and from there we find that the tension is 94 Kilonewtons and the
compression is 86.4 Kilonewtons. For this step the tension is greater than the compression.
Hence we need to have a larger xu to give more compression in the concrete. We are increasing
xu to 65 mm for which xu by d is equal to 0.54. Again going through the steps, we find out the
tension to be 91, the tension has now dropped from 94 to 91. Whereas, the compression has
increased from 86.4 to 93.6 and here we find that the tension is lower than the compression. At
this stage we should reduce xu to give more tension in the tendons. After a few iterations, we
have come to a value which is 63.5 mm for which we find the tension to be 91.5
Kilonewton and the compression to be 91.4 Kilonewton which are reasonably close and we can
say that the evaluation of the depth of the neutral axis and the forces have converged at
the final values.
The ultimate flexural strength is thus given as the tension or the compression times the lever
arm and we know all these variables once we substitute these variables then we find the
ultimate flexural strength of this pre-tensioned member.

Thus in today’s lecture, we studied the analysis of members for ultimate strength. First we
understood the variation of stress in the steel. In our analysis for service loads, we did not
consider any variation in the stress in the steel. We said that the stress is constant at the
effective prestress fpe. Today, it was justified that what we observe is that before cracking the
increase in stress with increasing load is very small and hence, we can neglect the increase in
stress. It is only after cracking that the stress in steel increases suddenly and as we are
approaching the ultimate strength the stress will increase quite rapidly.

We also understood the conditions at ultimate limit state that how do we define the ultimate
limit state of a member under flexure? We say it that it is defined based on the strain in the
extreme concrete fiber to be 0.0035 as per our Indian code. During that, if the steel has
substantially yielded then it is called an under-reinforced section, but if the steel has not
yielded when the concrete has reached its ultimate strain then it is called an over-reinforced
section. For a prestressed member, there is no definite balanced point, because the steel itself
does not have a true yield point. We may define a balanced condition by considering a
particular value of strain which the steel should have when the concrete attains the strain of
0.0035.

Next, we learned the analysis of rectangular members, what we have seen that in the analysis?
We first draw the strain diagram where we assign a strain of 0.0035 for the extreme concrete
fiber under compression. From the strain diagram, we draw the stress diagram based on the
constitutive relationships. For the concrete it is a non-linear behaviour, for the steel also it is a
non-linear behaviour at ultimate. Once, we know the strain diagrams we can plot a force
couple. We have three principles of mechanics working. The first is the equilibrium of forces.
The first equation is the equilibrium of the tension and the compression. The second is the
equilibrium of the moment from which we have an expression of the ultimate capacity. We
have the compatibility equations and we have the constitutive relationships. These equations
can be solved iteratively by a strain compatibility method, where we start with an assuming the
depth of a neutral axis. If we want to bypass this strain compatibility method, we can use the
code tabulated values of the depth of neutral axis and the force in the steel from which we can
evaluate the ultimate moment of resistance for a rectangular section. In our next section we
shall move on to flange sections and partially prestressed sections. Thank you.