Interface slip of post-tensioned concrete beams with stage construction: Experimental and FE study

This study presents experimental and numerical results of prestressed concrete composite beams with different casting and stressing sequence. The beams were tested under three-point bending and it was found that prestressed concrete composite beams could not achieve monolith behavior due to interface slippage between two layers. The initial stress distribution due to different construction sequence has little effect on the maximum load of composite beams. The multi-step FE analyses could simulate different casting and stressing sequence thus correctly capturing the initial stress distribution induced by staged construction. Three contact algorithms were considered for interaction between concrete layers in the FE models namely tie constraint, cohesive contact and surface-to-surface contact. It was found that both cohesive contact and surface-to-surface contact could simulate the interface slip even though each algorithm considers different shear transfer mechanism. The use of surface-to-surface contact for beams with more than 2 layers of concrete is not recommended as it underestimates the maximum load in this study.