The introduction of fibre-reinforced polymers (FRPs) to the field of civil engineering has led to numerous research efforts focusing on a wide range of applications where properties such as high strength, light weight or corrosion resistance are desirable. In particular, FRP materials have been especially attractive for use as internal reinforcement in reinforced concrete (RC) structures exposed to aggressive environments due to the rapidly deteriorating infrastructure resulting from corrosion of conventional steel reinforcement. While FRPs have been successfully implemented in a variety of structural applications, little research has been conducted on the use of FRP reinforcement for short span slab bridges. Furthermore, the behaviour of FRP-RC flexural members cast with self-consolidating concrete (SCC) is largely absent from the literature. The present study investigates the behaviour of an all-FRP reinforcement system for slab bridges which combines lower cost glass FRP (GFRP) reinforcing bars with high performance carbon FRP (CFRP) prestressed tendons in SCC to produce a structure which is both cost-efficient and characterized by excellent structural performance at the serviceability, ultimate and fatigue limit states. An extensive experimental program comprised of 57 large or full-scale slab strips was conducted to investigate the effects of reinforcement type, reinforcement ratio, prestressing level and shear reinforcement type on the flexural performance of slab bridges under both monotonic and fatigue loading. The proposed reinforcement system was found to display excellent serviceability characteristics and high load capacities as well as significant deformability to allow for sufficient warning prior to failure. Lastly, the use of post-tensioned CFRP tendons limited the stresses in the GFRP reinforcing bars leading to significantly longer fatigue lives and higher fatigue strengths compared to non-prestressed slabs. Analytical models were used to predict the behaviour of the slab bridge strips at service and at ultimate. Where these models failed to accurately represent the experimental findings, simple modifications were proposed. The results from ancillary tests were also used to modify existing analytical models to predict the effects of fatigue loading on the deflection, crack width, shear resistance and flexural capacity of each of the tested slabs.

The introduction of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) to the civil engineering market in the late 1980s resulted in the emergence of a range of new tools for rehabilitating and strengthening concrete structures. Strengthening using FRPs is typically accomplished using non-prestressed externally bonded FRPs. The technical and economic benefits of such strengthening could be further increased by prestressing the FRPs, especially when dealing with concrete structures. Prestressing concrete structures suppresses the appearance and growth of cracks in the serviceability limit state. This in turn increases the structure’s stiffness and resistance to degradation. Prestressing also increases the structure’s yield load but does not change its failure load relative to that of an analogous non-prestressed structure, provided that all other parameters are kept constant. In 2004, a pilot study was carried out at the Luleå University of Technology (LTU) to investigate the scope for using unbonded Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strengthening systems, particularly those involving prestressing. In the early stages of this project, a number of difficulties were encountered in anchoring the CFRP rods to concrete structures: the conical wedge anchorages that were used tended to either cause premature failure of the rods or allowed the rod to slip out of the anchorage. It was therefore decided to study the mechanisms at work within these anchorages in more detail. The goal of the project was to develop a small, practical, reliable, and userfriendly anchorage for use in unbonded external CFRP strengthening systems. On the basis of a thorough literature review, which is described in Paper 1, it was concluded that despite the difficulties encountered, the conical wedge anchorages used with steel reinforcing rods were the most promising starting point for the design of a new anchorage for use with CFRPs. Importantly, the conical wedge anchorage can be made small in size and easy to mount while retaining a high degree of versatility; this is not true of bonded, sleeve, and clamping anchorages. Analytical and numerical models were used to investigate the distribution of radial stress within these highly pressurized anchorages. Paper 2 describes an evaluation of the capability of three types of models - an analytical axisymmetric model based on the thick-walled-cylinder-theory and two Finite Element (FE) models, one axisymmetric and one three-dimensional - to predict the behaviour of a conical wedge anchorage. It was concluded that the axisymmetric models were incapable of modelling the stress distribution within the anchorage with sufficient accuracy, and so 3D FE models were used exclusively in subsequent studies. Paper 3 describes the development of a new anchorage for CFRP rods. The design process involved conducting pull-out studies on a series of prototypes, in conjunction with computational studies using a basic FE model, to identify and understand the prototypes’ failure modes. Between the computational data and experimental results, a good understanding of the factors affecting the interaction between the CFRP rod and the anchorage was obtained. The new anchorage design employs a one-piece wedge which effectively incorporates the three wedges and the inner sleeve from more conventional wedge anchorages into a single unit. This increases the reliability and user-friendliness of the anchorage because it eliminates the need to check the alignment of individual wedges. The new design has been patented; the published Swedish patent is included in the thesis as Paper 6. The newly-developed anchorage was then incorporated into a prestressing system and its performance was evaluated using a series of test beams. In parallel with the planning of these tests, a series of pull-out tests was conducted using the new anchorage. The strain measurements obtained in these experiments were compared to predictions made using a new, more advanced FE model, and used to refine the design of the new anchorage. Paper 4 describes this new FE model, the most important parameters affecting anchorage behaviour, and the final anchorage design. Paper 5 focuses on the possibilities provided by the new anchorage. Tests were performed using seven three meter long concrete beams prestressed with external unbonded CFRP tendons. One beam was unstrengthened; the other six were strengthened in different ways, with different prestressing forces, initial tendon depths, and with or without the use of a midspan deviator for the tendons. The results of these tests were compared to those obtained using otherwise identical beams prestressed with steel tendons and to the predictions of an analytical beam model developed for use with steel tendons. These tests showed that the prestressing works as intended and that the behaviour of beams prestressed with external unbonded CFRP tendons is fully comparable to that of beams prestressed with steel tendons. It was also found that the predictions of the analytical model were in good agreement with experimental observations, although there were some differences between the measured and predicted tendon stresses. The development of a functional anchorage represents a fulfilment of the objectives laid out at the start of this project, and represents an important step towards the practical use of prestressed unbonded external CFRP tendons in strengthening concrete structures. However, a number of outstanding questions remain to be addressed. Little is known about the safety of this kind of system, and the benefits of using CFRP tendons should be quantified. Furthermore, there are a number of potential technical issues that must be addressed. These include the risk of creep-rupture in the CFRP, the effects of thermal contraction and expansion on the anchorage, and the scalability of the anchorage as the tendon diameter is increased. Finally, the long-term behaviour of the anchorage and prestressing system should be investigated. / I och med introduktionen av fiberkompositer i byggbranschen under slutet av 80-talet har en rad nya verktyg för förstärkning och underhåll av betongkonstruktioner utvecklats. Förstärkning har oftast utförts med pålimmade kompositer utan förspänning. För att ytterligare öka verkningsgraden, både den tekniska och ekonomiska, kan förspänning vara en möjlighet. Särskilt för betongkonstruktioner. Förspänning av en betongkonstruktion medför att man i bruksgränstillståndet begränsar uppkomsten av sprickor och deras storlek. Det ger i sin tur en ökad styvhet hos konstruktionen. Därutöver höjs lasten för när det slakarmerade stålet flyter. I jämförelse med ospända konstruktioner är dock brottlasten densamma, så länge övriga parametrar behålls. Under 2004 genomfördes en pilotstudie vid Luleå tekniska universitet (LTU) för att undersöka framtida möjligheter och utmaningar med förspända, icke vidhäftande kolfiberkompositkablar. I det läget upptäcktes svårigheter att förankra kompositkabeln mot betongen. De koniska killås som användes orsakade antingen brott på kabeln redan vid låga belastningar eller glidning hos kabeln, som omöjliggjorde fullgod kraftöverföring. Ett beslut togs då att tills vidare fokusera på förankringen och genomföra en mer ingående studie kring denna. Som mål sattes upp att arbetet skulle resultera i en liten, tillförlitlig och användarvänlig förankring. Den skulle sen i en förlängning kunna användas för att slutföra pilotstudien och därefter i större tillämpningar. Trots de förhållandevis nedslående resultaten från pilotförsöken visade den grundliga litteraturstudien som presenteras i Artikel 1 att koniska killås trots allt verkar vara den mest lovande typen av förankring för kolfiberkablar. Den bör därför användas som utgångspunkt för fortsatt utveckling. I motsats till vidhäftande, hyls och klämmande förankringar kan killåset göras litet, lätt att montera och också användas i många praktiska tillämpningar. För att undersöka hur de höga radiella tryckspänningarna i ett sådant killås fördelas är olika former av beräkningsmodeller nödvändiga verktyg. I Artikel 2 jämförs tre olika modeller med avseende på hur väl de kan beskriva komplexiteten hos ett koniskt killås. Det är dels en analytisk axisymmetrisk modell, som också härleds i artikeln, dels en axisymmetrisk Finita Element (FE) modell och dels en 3D FE modell. Undersökningen visade att ingen av de axisymmetriska modellerna har kapacitet nog att tillförlitligt modellera killåset. I fortsatta undersökningar har därför endast 3D FE använts. Resultaten från en enkel FE modell ligger också, tillsammans med tidiga laboratorieförsök, som grund för Artikel 3. Däri beskrivs hur ett nytt killås via prototyper och nya lösningar utvecklats, och hur arbetet för att få fram det nya låset också gett en bättre förståelse för interaktionen mellan kolfiberkompositkabel och lås. Som avslutning presenteras en innovativ design där de tre kilarna och den inre hylsan sammanfogats till en enhet. Med den nyutvecklade designen blir förankringen såväl mer tillförlitlig som användarvänlig. Alla kilar har då redan från början rätt position i förhållande till varandra. Den utvecklade förankringslösningen har också lett fram till ett beviljat svenskt patent, bifogat i avhandlingen som Artikel 6. Efter utvecklingen av den nya förankringen var nästa steg i de uppsatta målen implementering av densamma i ett förspänningssystem och nya balkförsök i konstruktionslabbet. Parallellt med planeringen för balkförsöken pågick ett arbete med att ytterligare förbättra låsdesignen. Bland annat användes en mer detaljerad FE modell som sedan jämfördes med mätningar från en ny serie med dragprov. Den nya FE modellen tillsammans med en utvärdering av viktiga parametrar och den slutliga förankringsdesignen presenteras i Artikel 4. Artikel 5 sammanfattar och avslutar forskningsstudien med en testserie om sju stycken, tre meter långa, betongbalkar förspända med utanpåliggande kolfiberkompositstavar. En av balkarna provades utan förstärkning. Förstärkningen hos de övriga varierades med avseende på förspänningsgrad, förspänningens effektiva höjd och användandet av deviator vid balkmitt. Resultaten har jämförts mellan de provade balkarna, med identiska balkar förspända med stålkablar samt med en analytisk modell utvecklad för förspänning med stålkablar. Från resultaten kan utläsas att förspänningen fungerar bra och att beteendet hos balkarna förspända med utanpåliggande kolfiberkablar är fullt jämförbart med det hos balkarna förspända med stålkablar. Likaså visar jämförelsen med de modellerade beteendena på god överensstämmelse, även om vissa skillnader finns mellan uppmätta och modellerade spänningar i kolfiberkabeln. Med målen för forskningen uppfyllda och en ny fungerande förankring framtagen så har vägen till praktiska tillämpningar kortats betydligt, ändå finns några frågetecken kvar att räta ut. Ett är säkerheten hos den här typen av system och nyttan av att använda kolfiberkomposit istället för stål. Innan systemet används i praktiken bör därför följande frågeställningar belysas: Risk för krypbrott i kolfiberarmeringen, inverkan av temperaturförändringar (och temperaturrörelser) i förankringen samt eventuella storlekseffekter vid förankring av kablar med större diametrar. De här frågorna tillsammans med långtidsförsök på förankringen och förspänningssystemet bör ses som viktiga framtida forskningsfrågor. / Godkänd; 2011; 20110128 (ysko); DISPUTATION Ämnesområde: Konstruktionsteknik/Structural Engineering Opponent: PhD Chris Burgoyne, Dep of Engineering, University of Cambridge, UK Ordförande: Professor Björn Täljsten, Institutionen för samhällsbyggnad och naturresurser, Luleå tekniska universitet Tid: Fredag den 18 februari 2011, kl 10.00 Plats: F1031, Luleå tekniska universitet

This thesis deals with a design of a two-track railway frame bridge over a valley. Out of three proposed variants was chosen the variant number 1 - prestressed frame construction with variable beam section. According to actual EN standards the construction was designed and assessed to the serviceability limit state and the ultimate limit state.

The thesis is focused on the design of the reconstruction of the reinforced concrete pre-stressed construction of the clinker reservoir. The supporting system of the structure consists of a reinforced concrete wall on which a prestressing reinforcement is applied in the sprayed concrete layer. Preliminary research revealed disturbances that could disrupt static objects. The aim of this work is to propose a solution for the reinforcement of the supporting structure. The thesis contains two variants of the reconstruction solution. A static report is prepared for the selected option, including the impact of the construction, the construction procedure and the drawing documentation.

This Master’s thesis concerns a design of the highway bridge over Nitra River in Nitra, Slovakia. Three variants were designed from which one was selected and analyzed in detail. It is a three box cell girder made of post-tensioned concrete and constructed as a free cantilever bridge. The bridge is assessed according to Eurocodes. The limit states for persistent and transient design situations were taken into account at carrying out the design. There are drawings attached to this thesis as illustrative drawings of the bridge and its construction stages, drawings of the prestress tendons and reinforcement.

The subject of this diploma thesis is design of arch bridge across the highway. Has been elected self-anchored structure with span of arch 60 m and trapezoid bridge deck from prestressed concrete. The load effects is calculated by software Scia Engineer including time dependent analysis. The supporting structure is assessed for the ultimate limit state and serviceability limit state. Static assessment is done by hand calculation according to CSN EN 1992-2. Part of the thesis is drawing and visualization of the bridge.

The aim of this thesis is assessment of existing condition reinforced concrete factory chimney, who has undergone structural and technical survey, under which was found many failures caused of horizontally tension - significant vertical cracks in the chimney stack. The object of this work will also make appropriate proposals rehabilitation of concrete stack by design prestressed cables monostrand in horizontal direction, grouting open cracks and reprofiling surface of chimney stack.

<p>If designed and constructed properly, post-tensioned construction can provide improved durability and offers the ability to construct longer span bridges and curved girders. Furthermore, this method of construction has become economically competitive with traditional, pretensioned concrete and steel plate girder bridges. A critical issue, however, has been corrosion of the steel strand. While grouting has been the primary corrosion protection method for the strand, experience has shown that grouting presents its own problems and limitations that compromised the durability and service-life of bridges. As a result, unbonded post-tensioning has gained interest as it eliminates issues with grouting and allows for inspection as well as future strand replacement. The behavior and strength of structures constructed with unbonded post-tensioning, however, is not well understood, especially shear strength. Therefore, the objective of this research investigation is to evaluate the structural performance of prestressed girders containing unbonded tendons with a primary focus on shear strength. The scope of this phase of the research was to develop the means and methods to construct and test girder specimens with multiple design criteria and allow evaluation of multiple test variables. The research developed the materials and procedures to enable the large scale testing program to be developed. Finally, the procedures developed were verified through the construction of the initial set of test specimens and testing of the first shear specimen.</p>

This work deals with statics and dynamics analysis of stayed cable bridge and design of supporting structure according to limit states. The work contains of static calculation, drawing documentation and visualization.

Advanced computational methods for the analysis of building structures are used more often in engineering practice. Their use is enforced not only by the demands for aesthetics, functionality and high economy of the construction, but often directly by code provisions and requirements. Therefore, it is necessary to provide for an engineer the robust, but transparent tool, which can be used for an efficient design of structure all over it's design working life. This work deals with the creation of a computational system for time dependent analysis of concrete and composite structures. It is assumed a solid or composite concrete section with possible application of pre-tensioned and/or post-tensioned tendons. Each phase of step-by-step build composite cross-section has a general geometry. The used algorithms give us the possibility of a detailed analysis of the structure in individual construction stages, provide the designer better view on the behavior of structures with respect to concrete aging, shrinkage and creep, relaxation of prestressed tendons and provide an information on the redistribution of internal forces in the structure and in different phases of the cross-section. Stress state of the structure calculated in this way come in useful further in the design and checking of ultimate and serviceability limit states. Results of time dependent analysis are verified by manual calculations and by comparing with the results obtained by simplified methods.