Incorporation of Stress Time Dependence into Failure Projection Modeling of Corroding Bridge Post-Tensioning Tendons

Abstract

Post-tensioning (PT) has evolved to become an important technology for designing long span bridge structures. However, tendon failures resulting from wire/strand corrosion have been reported as early as 2 y post construction. In response to this, a recent study introduced and evaluated an analytical modeling approach that projects corrosion-induced wire and strand fractures and tendon failures, given statistics that characterize wire corrosion rate. This past modeling effort assumed that tensile stress in tendons was constant with time at 63% of the guaranteed ultimate tensile strength (GUTS); however, in actuality this stress decreases with time over an assumed 10,000 d (approximately 27 y) from an initial value of about 70% of GUTS to a long-term value in the range 60% to 63% of ultimate at mid-span for a simply supported beam as a consequence of long-term concrete creep and shrinkage and strand relaxation. The present study builds upon this model by incorporating this time dependence of tendon stress into the failure projection modeling. Results are discussed within the context of better understanding bridge tendon integrity issues and corrosion related failure concerns.