Experimental and numerical studies on bonded prestressed concrete beams at low temperatures

This manuscript studied the structural performances of bonded prestressed concrete (PC) beams at different low temperatures (+20 °C to −100 °C). The main parameters of analysis and discussion were temperature and prestress levels. Theoretical models were proposed to predict the cracking and ultimate resistances of the bonded PC beams at low temperatures. Numerical model was also proposed to simulate behaviours of PC beams at low temperatures. The accuracies of these theoretical and numerical models were validated against the test results. Compressive tests on concrete after freeze-thaw cycles were also carried out to obtain the corresponding mechanical properties. With these test results as input information, numerical parametric studies were performed to study the behaviours of bonded PC beams at low temperatures or after freeze-thaw cycles.