Calculation Method of the Initial Strains of Cables in Pretensioning Construction of Prestressed Space Reticulated Structures

Abstract

It is a complicated process to adjust the tensile forces of cables to their target forces in the practical tensioning construction of prestressed space reticulated structure. In this paper a calculation method for whole-process analysis of the multi-stage and multi-batch tensioning construction is presented to improve the tensioning efficiency. By diminishing the difference between the actual tensile forces of the cables and their target values gradually, the initial strains of the cables for tensioning in construction can be obtained. All the cables can reach to their target values one time if they are stretched to the calculated initial strains in accordance with the predetermined tensioning sequence. The analysis on a prestressed spherical reticulated mega-structure with span of 150m is carried out; the results indicate that this method is feasible in practice.