EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE UNDER COMBINED TORSION, BENDING, AND SHEAR

Arthur E. McMullen
Associate Professor of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering University of Calgary Calgary, Alberta Canada

H. Roger Woodhead
Design Engineer, McKenzie, Snowball, Skalbania and Associates Ltd. Vancouver, British Columbia Canada

Test results are presented for 26 rectangular eccentrically pretensioned concrete beams subjected to various combinations of torsion, bending, and shear. To investigate the effect of the presence of stirrups, 18 beams were provided with closed rectangular stirrups and 8 contained no stirrups. Other variables investigated were the average level of prestress, the stirrup spacing, the T/(Vb) ratio, and the T/M ratio. Torque-shear and torque-moment interaction equations are proposed for both beams without stirrups and beams with stirrups.

Considerable progress has recently been for the design of reinforced concrete made in understanding the effect of subjected to torsion. However, the ACI torsion on reinforced concrete and as Torsion Committee was unable to a result the most recent edition of the propose similar design recommendaACI Building Code' contains provisions tions for prestressed concrete since inPCI Journal/September-October 1973 85

I.75" t 31/a' x 9 1/, " (79.4 x 232 mm) CLOSED STIRRUPS (except SERIES I)

6-1/2(12.7mm) DIA. 7 WIRE STRANDS

CROSS SECTION IN TEST LENGTH

52"(1320mm)

I TEST LENG TH=56"(1420mm)

36(914mm)

36' (9I4mm)

-10"(254mm)

72"( 1.83 m) D INDICATES LOCATION OF DEFLECTION GAGE T INDICATES LOCATION OF TWISTMETE SERIES I)

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

Fig. 1. Details of typical test specimen

adequate test data were available.2 The investigation reported herein is an attempt to provide more test data and forms part of a larger study.3

EXPERIMENTAL PROGRAM
Twenty-six rectangular, eccentrically pretensioned beams were subjected to various combinations of torsion, bending, and shear. Three of the specimens were tested in purr torsion and two in bending and shear alone. The specimens were divided into four series: Series I consisted of eight specimens without stirrups, tested under various loading combinations so that the interaction of torsion, bending, and shear could be observed. Series II contained five specimens with closed rectangular stirrups and 86

with the same average level of prestress o-, as Series I (0.1 f,'). The effect of stirrups on the interaction could thus be observed. Series III contained six beams with the same size and spacing of stirrups as Series II but with o-, = 0.2 ft,'. Thus the effect of o-p on the interaction could be examined. Series V consisted of seven beams similar to those of Series III except that they were tested at a constant torsion to shear ratio [T/(Vb) = 1.5] . The quantity of stirrups was varied to observe the effect on the strength in combined loading. All beams had a nominal cross section of 6 x 12 in. (152 x 305 mm) and were 12 ft (3.66 mm) in length. They were pretensioned eccentrically by six 1/2 in. (12.7 mm) diameter seven-wire

Table 1. Details of test specimens

f "` f f,t (N/mm 2 )
Qn, ^p

Beam -1 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 1-7 1-8 II-1 11-2 11-3 11-4 11-5 111-1 111-2 111-3 111-4 111-5 111-6 V-1 V-2 V-3 V-4 V-5 V-6 V-7

psi (N/mm 2) 6850(47.2) 6850(47.2) 7170(49.5) 7170(49.5) 5760(39.7) 5760(39.7) 7400(51.1) 7400(51.1) 5340(368) 5340(36.8) 5780(39.9) 5780(39.9) 5520(38.1) 6530(45.0) 6530(45.0) 6060(41.8) 6060(41.8) 6580(45.4) 6580(45.4) 5730(39.5) 5730(39.5) 6720(46.3) 6720(46.3) 5520(38.1) 5640(38.9) 5640(38.9)

psi

psi (N/mm 2) 660(4.55) 660(4.55) 800(5.51) 700(4.83) 775(5.35) 750(5.17) 680(4.69) 680(4.69) 700(4.83) 700(4.83) 790(5.45) 675(4.66) 730(5.04) 1220(8.41) 1080(7.45) 1100(7.59) 1075(7.42) 1175(8.10) 1125(7.75) 1350(9.31) 1200(8.27) 1250(8.62) 1270(8.76) 1250(8.62) 1180(8.14) 1260(8.68)

fo'

e, in. (mm) 0.65(16.5) 1.48(37.6) 1.50(38.1) 1.46(37.1) 1.19(31.0) 1.53(38.8) 1.28(32.5) 1.15(29.2) 1.79(45.4) 1.68(42.7) 1.52(38.6) 1.41(35.8) 1.61(40.9)

494(3.41) 494(3.41) 538(3.71) 538(3.71) 549(3.79) 549(3.79) 572(3.94) 572(3.94) 554(3.82) 554(3.82) 633(4.37) 633(4.37) 555(3.83) 570(3.93) 570(3.93) 506(3.49 506(3.49) 534(3.68) 534(3.68) 546(3.77) 546(3.77) 566(3.90) 566(3.90) 555(3.83) 592(4.08) 592(4.08)

0.096 0.096 0.111 0.098 0.134 0.130 0.092 0.092 0.131 0.131 0.136 0.117 0.132

Transverse steel Sizes f:y s, ksi in. (N/mm2) (mm) No.2 No.2 No.2 No.2 No. 2 No. 2 No. 2 No.2 No.2 No. 2 No.2 No.2 No. 2 No.2 No. 2 No. 2 No.3 No.3 26(179) 26(179) 26(179) 26(179) 26(179) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 33(228) 61(421) 55(379) 55(379) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 4(101) 2(51) 6(152) 8(203) 10(254) 2(51) 8(203) 2(51)

0.187 1.54(39.1) 0.166 1.56(39.6) 0.182 1.64(41.7) 0.178 1.71(43.4) 0.176 1.75(44.4) 0.171 1.86(47.2) 0.235 1.82(46.1) 0.209 1.66(42.2) 0.186 1.83(46.5) 0.189 1.78(45.2) 0.227 1.66(42.2) 0.209 1.58(40.1) 0.224 1.66(42.2)

* Cylinder compressive strength f 0 ' is average value from five 6 x 12 in. (152 x 304 mm) cylinders. prisms. #No. 2 (6.3 mm diameter) bars were plain and No. 3 (9.5 mm diameter) were deformed.
Modulus of rupture
f,.

is average value from five 6 x 6 x 24 in. (152 x 152 x 608 mm)

prestressing strands. The top strands were stressed to a lower level than the bottom strands. All specimens contained additional stirrups outside the test length to ensure that failure occurred within the test length. Details of the specimens are furnished in Table 1 and Fig. 1. The stress-strain curve of the prestressing strand is shown in Fig. 2. The specimens were cast in forms located inside a prestressing frame (Fig. 3). The strands were tensioned by a hydraulic jack; the force in each PCI Journal/September-October 1973

strand being monitored by a load cell. To measure the prestress applied to the beam, an 8 in. (204 mm) demec gage was used. The concrete for each pair of beams was mixed in five batches in a drum mixer. Each mix had a target 28 -day compressive strength of 6000 psi (41.4 N /mm2 ) and consisted of the following approximate proportions by weight: Cement: Fine aggregate: Coarse aggregate 1:2.4:3.8. Water-cement ratio: 0.5. The amount of water was adjusted

87

40 36

150

130 S2 !8 110

4
0 6 12

90

70 p

50

ULTIMATE TENSILE STRESS i 94 30 LOAD AT I% ELONGATION=37.9 kips 8, (168101) MODULUS OF ELASTICITY =274alOepsi (18.9s104N/mm21 4 10 I.c 1.0 U.6 0.6 0.4 0.2, PERCENT ELONGATION)NCHES/ INCH 10-2

81 k

Fig. 2. Stress-strain curve for prestressing strand

Fig. 3. Prestressing bed

so that a slump of about 1 1/2 in. (38 mm) was obtained. One standard 6 x 12 in. (152 x 304 mm) cylinder and one 6 x 6 x 24 in. (152 x 152 x 608 mm) prism were cast from each mix for control specimens. The cylinders were tested in compression, and modulus of rupture tests under third-point loading were carried out on the prisms.

Electrical resistance strain gages were used to measure the strains in the stirrups. Four gages were attached to a stirrup, one on each leg. Deflections were measured at the locations shown in Fig. 1. Each deflection gage consisted of a scale hanging from a ball joint fixed to each side of the beam. The readings were taken with a geo-

Fig. 4. General view of test setup

88

Table 2. Principal test results

At ultimate
T* T Vb 0 Tor Mart V,, Tu

Cracking loads

Ultimate loads
M*" V.

Beam M 1-2 1-3 1-4 1-5 1-6 1-7 1-8 II-1 11-2 II-3 II-4 II-5 111-1 III-2 111-3 111-4 111-5 III-6 V-1 V-2 V-3 V-4 V-5 V-6 V-7
-1 0

0.012 0.15 0.028 0.34 0.053 0.69 0.152 1.52 0.588 5.84 0.304 2.92

308(34.8) 3.8( 9.4) 302(34.1) 8.2( 0.9) 288(32.6) 16.9( 1.9) 295(33.3) 15.0(13.0) 40.0( 4.5) 327(37.0) 90.0(10.2) 190(21.5) 70.0( 7.9) 294(33.2)

4.10(18.2) 4.10(18.2) 4.00(17.8) 4.10(18.2) 4.40(19.6) 2.57(11.4) 4.00(17.8)

1.0) 8.6( 21.8( 2.5) 38.8( 4.4) 19.6(13.5) 65.0( 7.3) 100.0(11.3) 85.0( 9.6) 105.011.9) 69.9( 7.9) 28.3( 3.2) 90.0(10.2) 105.0(11.9) 35.3( 4.0) 81.9( 9.3) 125.0(14.1) 105.0(11.9) 135.0(15.3) 89.4(10.1) 78.9( 8.9) 81.9( 9.3) 78.9( 8.9) 89.4(10.1) 75.9( 8.61 87.9( 9.9)

800(90.4) 722(81.5) 777(87.7) 727(82.1) 428(48.4) 170(19.2) 280(31.6) 598(67.6) 726(82.0) 408(46.2) 193(21.8)

10.40(46.3) 9.37(41.6) 10.10(44.8) 9.43(41.9) 7.13(31.7) 2.88(12.8) 4.82(21.4) 7.77(34.5) 9.43(41.9) 6.00(26.7) 2.92(13.0)

- W 85.0( 9.6) 0.117 1.50 36.9( 4.2) 295(33.3) 4.10(18.2) 0.039 0.50 12.0( 1.4) 308(34.8) 4.00(17.8) 0.220 2.50 50.0( 5.7) 245(27.7) 3.34(14.9) 0.543 6.00 85.0( 9.6) 177(20.0) 2.34(10.4) 0 0 0.039 0.50 15.3( 1.7) 0.118 1.50 43.0( 4.9) - W 100.0(11.3) 0.226 2.50 80.0( 9.0) 6.00 100.0(11.3) 0.561 0.122 1.50 0.122 1.50 0.122 1.50 0.127 1.50 0.120 1.50 0.120 1.50 0.122 1.50 48.4( 5.5) 48.4( 5.5) 48.4( 5.5) 48.4( 5.5) 48.4( 5.5) 43.0( 4.9) 43.0( 4.9) 382(43.2) 362(40.9) 360(40.7) 400(45.2) 167(18.9) 393(44.4) 414(46.8) 411(46.4) 409(46.2) 398(45.0) 356(40.4) 363(41.0) 5.10(22.7) 5.10(22.7) 4.77(21.2) 5.34(23.7) 2.78(12.4) 5.38(23.9) 5.38(23.9) 5.38(23.9) 5.38(23.9) 5.38(23.9) 4.77(21.2) 4.77(21.2)

910(103.0) 11.80(52.4) 910(103.0) 11.80(52.4) 692(78.0) 9.10(40.4) 465(52.5) 7.00(31.1) 240(27.1) 3.75(16.7) .735(83.0) 648(73.3) 673(76.0) 621(70.2) 745(84.1) 633(71.5) 722(81.5) 9.93(44.1) 8.75(38.9) 9.10(40.4) 8.75(38.9) 9.93(44.1) 8.43(37.5) 9.77(43.4)

Note: All moments given in in.-kips and shear forces in kips; figures in brackets are in kNm and kN for moments and forces, respectively. *M and M. at center of compression zone of failure surface. tM,, at location of first crack.

detic level. For Series I the rotations were obtained by subtracting the two deflections at each location and dividing by the horizontal distance between the scales. For all other specimens twistmeters3 were used to measure the rotations at the locations shown in Fig. 1. The test setup is illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5. The beam was supported at the ends by two twisting heads, one of which was fixed to prevent rotation of one end of the specimen about its longitudinal axis. Both heads allowed the specimen to rotate about horizontal and vertical axes perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the specimen. The

supported span was 10 ft (3.05 m) and for beams tested under combined loading a vertical load was applied at the third point. The twisting and shear-bending loads were applied separately and in predetermined increments until failure occurred. After each increment was applied the load was held constant while the steel strains, deflections and rotations were measured and the cracks, if any, marked. TEST RESULTS The principal test results are tabulated in Table 2.
89

PCI Journal/September-October 1973

TEST LENGTH SOUTH I I T

NORTH(FIXED HEAD) T-.

I PI

L 3 2PL 9

2L

P 3

B.M.D.

SF 0.

Fig. 5. Schematic diagram of test setup

Behavior
Beams without stirrupsThe speci-

mens without stirrups tested under low T/(Vb) ratios failed in an explosive and sudden manner in shear-compression. At failure the compression zone was usually completely destroyed and the top strands arched upwards. A typical example is Specimen I-I [T/ (Vb) = 0] shown in Fig. 6. As the proportion of torsion was increased the failure became less violent. The cracks still commenced on the hot90

tom face and they spread faster on the east face, on which torsional and flexural shear stresses were additive, than on the west face. On the east face they curved towards the load point although they were almost vertical on the west face. On both faces the cracks were more closely spaced near the load point. Specimens tested under a high T/ (Vb) ratio [T /(Vb) 2.92] displayed a torsion failure with the cracks on three faces forming a spiral, the ends

Top

West

Bottom

East

Fig. 6. Crack pattern for Specimen I-1

of which were joined by a line of crushing on the other (side) face. Few cracks appeared prior to failure which was sudden but not violent. It was found that as the proportion of torsion increased, the angle between the crack and the beam axis decreased, the distance from the load point to the

compression zone increased and the ratio of the torque at which the first cracks (flexural or torsional) were observed, to ultimate torque, T,,, increased. Beams with stirrupsThe behavior of these beams in the early stages of a test was similar to that of the beams

Top

West

Bottom

East

Fig. 7. Crack pattern for Specimen PCI Journal/September-October 1973

111-3

91

Top

West

Bottom

East

Fig. 8. Crack pattern for Specimen 111-4

without stirrups. In the later stages the behavior was modified by the presence of the stirrups in that the violence of failure was reduced and at high T/(Vb) ratios the specimens displayed increased strength and ductility after cracking. The beams tested under low T/(Vb) ratios failed when crushing occurred on the top surface near the load point. As the T/(Vb) ratio increased there was evidence of crushing on one of the side faces as well as on the top face. The crushing on the top face became inclined to the beam axis and moved away from the load. A typical example is Specimen III-3 [T/(Vb) = 1.5] shown in Fig. 7. At failure of the specimens tested under predominantly torsional loading, a spiral crack formed on three faces and was joined by a line of crushing on the fourth (side) face. A typical torsion failure is illustrated in Fig. 8 for Specimen III-4 [T/(Vb) = cc ] . As observed for the specimens without stirrups, the ratio Tc,/T,, increased and the angle of crack decreased as T/(Vb) increased. 92

Comparison of the crack patterns for Series II and III indicated that when the level of prestress was increased the failure became more destructive and the inclination of the cracks to the beam axis decreased, especially at high T/(Vb) ratios. The crack patterns for the beams in Series V showed that as the quantity of stirrups decreased the violence of failure increased. Deformation characteristics The torque-twist and load-deflection curves for the beams in Series I (no stirrups) are given in Figs. 9 and 10, respectively. The torque-twist curves were generally smooth and not discontinuous at the cracking torque as is the case with similar unprestressed specimens. The initial portion of the torque-twist curve was almost linear for beams tested under high T/(Vb) ratios. After cracking occurred, the slope of the torque-twist curve gradually decreased until near failure it was a lm-st zero. The load-deflection curves for Series I were also linear until flexural

120

U)

T I-8

2 z
U

z . 60
w D v X 030

0 5 Cr 0
I-

I-3 0 45(1.77)
Fig. 9. Torque-twist curves for Series I

I-2

TWIST/UNIT LENGTH- RAD./IN.xl0 -6 (RAD/MMx 10-6)

30 a20 Q 0 J J Q 10
U

60

0 Q OO U F-

30 >

ri

AV. CENTRAL DEFLECTION- IN. x 10-2(MM) i- - 15(3.8) Fig. 10. Load-deflection curves for Series I

cracking commenced. After cracking, the slope of the curves gradually decreased but not as markedly as that of the torque-twist curves. In fact, at large T/(Vb) ratios there was little change in slope after cracking. Torque-twist and load-deflection

curves for typical beams with stirrups (Series III) are shown in Figs. 11 and 12, respectively. The curves are generally similar to those of the beams without stirrups except that the beams loaded under high T/(Vb) ratios displayed increased torsional ductility
93

PCI Journal/September-October 1973

120
Y 1

a_

12 g III-6 III-4 III-5 III-3 III 2 I-.YYIJI/U1'J11 L .INUI

z 80 40

Z Y 0
I-

w 8 0 4

0
I-

100(4)

, tnAU/wllV1 X - rl PCHU./IIV.X IV

Fig. 11. Torque-twist curves for Series III

32

150
M-2 III-3 III-I

24
U)

120
2

a-

90 60 Iff-6 III-5 30

0 6 0 J
8

0 J

i AV. CENTRAL DEFLECTION-IN.x 10 2 (MM) 20(5) Fig. 12. Load-deflection curves for Series III

after cracking. When the load was removed at the end of a test the deflections were found to recover more than the rotations, especially at high T/(Vb) ratios. In this investigation it was found that the initial torsional stiffness could 94

be approximated by the elastic torsional stiffness, that it was not significantly affected by either the level of prestress or the quantity of stirrups, and that it increased as T/(Vb) decreased. The post-cracking torsional stiffness was lower than the initial value, did not

750

REINFORCEMENT FACTOR KN M I 2 3 4 10 11 5 8 6 7 9 VI V-5 V-7 75 V-3 SPECIMEN V-4 V-3 V-2 111-3 V-6 VI V-5 V-7
REINFORCEMENT FACTOR INCH KIP KNM

700
C',

4.88 8.14 12.2 24.0 24.4 45.1 95.8

6.11

650 V-4 600

0.55 0.69 0.92 1.38 2.71 2.76 5.10 10.82

2 z

60 550 0 REINFORCEMENT FACTOR x 1 y l A t f t y IN KIPS s

Fig. 13. Variation of M,, with reinforcement factor for specimens in Series V

vary in any consistent manner with the quantity of stirrups, increased as the level of prestress increased, and decreased as T/(Vb) decreased. It was mostly dependent on the loading ratio, T/(Vb); a result which confirms the observations of Henry and Zia.4 The initial slope of the load-deflection curves was found to be independent of the quantity of stirrups and the level of prestress but it increased slightly as T/(Vb) decreased. The slope of the load-deflection curves after cracking was found to increase as the level of prestress increased. The deflection at the ultimate load increased as T/(Vb) decreased and as the level of prestress decreased. Reinforcement strains The stirrup strains were small and sometimes even compressive in the early stages of a test. They did not increase markedly at the cracking load but increased just prior to the ultimate load. The stirrup strain appeared to be mainly dependent on the location of the stirrup relative to the failure surPCI Journal/September-October 1973

face. In general, if a stirrup that was provided with a gage was intersected by the failure surface, it indicated the yield strain at or immediately after the ultimate load. Since the magnitude of the stirrup strain was so dependent on the location of the failure surface relative to the stirrup, it is difficult to draw any firm conclusions regarding yield of the stirrups. For the same torque level, the stirrup strains in Series II were generally higher than those in Series III. In Series V. the strains tended to decrease as the quantity of stirrups was increased. Specimen V-5 had gages on four different stirrups and the results indicate that the strains decreased as the distance from the load increased. Since the torque and shear force were constant along the test length, it would appear that the distance from the failure crack affected the strains as the inclined failure crack occurred close to the load point. For Specimen IlI-4, tested in pure torsion, the gage on the east leg of the stirrup indicated yield subsequent 95

0 0
I-

0.

1.0 0 0.6 0.8 0.4 0.2 Mu / Muo (a) TORSIONMOMENT m

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

107

0.8 1.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 vu! Vuo (b) TORSION SHEAR

Fig. 14. Nondimensional interaction diagrams for specimens without stirrups

96

to failure even though the east face of the specimen contained the compression zone. Gangarao and Zia 5 made a similar observation for several of their beams and concluded that it indicated that the compression zone was small. However, a better explanation may be that the tensile strain acting parallel to the line of crushing was large enough to cause yield of the stirrups near that face. Effect of stirrups on strength in combined loading The specimens in Series V contained varying amounts of stirrups and were tested at a constant T/(Vb) ratio of 1.5. Fig. 13 illustrates the variation of ultimate moment, M,,, with the reinforcement factor, x1y1A where xl and yl are the smaller and larger center-to-center dimensions of a stirrup respectively and A t is the area of one leg of a stirrup. The value of M,, and not T is plotted since the beams were found to fail in the bending mode. 3 Below a reinforcement factor of 25 in.-kips (2.82 kNm), except for Specimen V-6, M,,, increased as the reinforcement factor increased. However, above this value there was little increase in Mu and it can thus be concluded that Specimens V-1, V-5, and V-7 were over-reinforced. It should be noted that the longitudinal prestressing steel was identical for all specimens in Series V and therefore the over-reinforcement must have been caused by the stirrups. Specimen V-6 may have failed prematurely because of the large stirrup spacing and it is interesting to note that Gangarao and Zia5 suggested that the maximum value of stirrup spacing should be onehalf the larger stirrup dimension. As stated above, the violence of failure was found to increase as the reinforcement factor decreased. Since the failure of Specimens V-2, V-3, and V-4 was noticably more violent than the others it would appear that to avoid

an overly destructive failure in this type of section the reinforcement factor should be greater than 10 in.-kips (1.13 kNm). Interaction of torsion, bending, and shear The interaction of torsion, bending, and shear is a much more complex problem than that of torsion and bending alone. It is essentially a three-dimensional problem and an interaction surface must be developed to fully predict the behavior. However, for convenience it is usual to present experimental data on two-dimensional interaction diagrams. The torsion-moment interaction diagram is the projection on the torsionmoment plane of the intersection of the interaction surface and a plane defined by the loading ratio. Similarly, the torsion-shear interaction diagram is this intersection projected on the torsionshear plane. Since the "pure" shear strength of a beam in the absence of bending moment cannot be determined experimentally it must be defined. In this investigation, V,,0 is defined as the shear force acting at failure of a specimen tested in bending and shear alone. Thus, for beams which contained adequate shear reinforcement, such as Series II and III, V00 is the shear force that was acting when the beam attained its full flexural capacity. For Series I, however, V00 is less than this value since Specimen I-1 failed before its full flexural capacity was reached. Figs. 14 and 15 show the interaction diagrams in nondimensional form. It can be seen that the addition of stirrups significantly affected the shape of these interaction diagrams, especially in the region corresponding to high T/(Vb) ratios. For the beams in Series II (o-, 0.1 fe' ), the torsional strength was not reduced below the pure torsional strength until a bending moment and shear
97

PCI Journal/September-October 1973

1.0 0.8
2

0.6 0.4 0.2

T0 Tuo

=1

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0 0.2

Mu/Muo (a) TORSIONMOMENT

1.0 0.8 o 0.6 0.4 0.2

II
2 a

(Tu

1.0 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0

Vu/Vuo (b) TORSIONSHEAR

Fig. 15. Nondimensional interaction diagrams for specimens with stirrups

98

force of more than 25 percent of the ultimate capacities were simultaneously applied. An increase in the level of prestress increased the strength in combined loading, especially when T/(Vb) was large. For Series III (a-, 0.2 f0') the presence of a small amount of bending and shear actually increased the torsional capacity above the pure torsional strength. In addition, the bending capacity was equal to M,uo even when a torque equal to 30 percent of T,uo was simultaneously applied. For the specimens without stirrups that were tested in this investigation the torsion-moment interaction can be approximated by the relation:

ods of calculating these values can be found in References 3, 4, and 5.

CONCLUSIONS

M u+ T u uo

_1

(1)

and the torsion-shear interaction by:

V.

V. +[ T_ ' =1
Tuo

(2)

Since no tests in combined loading on beams of this type have previously been reported it is not possible to compare these relations with results obtained by other investigators. For the specimens with stirrups that were tested in this investigation, the interaction can be conservatively expressed by the following equations:
[ M ,a] 2+ [Tuo] 2 1

(3)

and

C]
V10

'+2 LTuo]

1 (4)

Eq. (3) is identical to that proposed by Henry and Zia4 but Eq. (4) cannot be compared to their torsion-shear interaction equation since they adopted a different definition for V,uo. In Eqs. (1) to (4) the experimental values of T,,o , M o, and V,,,o have been used. If these values are not available they must be calculated. Current meth-

1. The specimens that were tested under predominantly flexural loads failed when crushing occurred on the top surface and for the beams without stirrups this failure was explosive. As the proportion of torsion was increased the failure became less violent, the compression zone on the top face became inclined to the beam axis and gradually moved from the top face to a side face (and also away from the load point). 2. For the beams without stirrups the torsion-shear-moment interaction can be approximated by Eqs. (1) and (2) while for the beams with stirrups Eqs. (3) and (4) conservatively predict the interaction. 3. The conclusion of Gangarao and Zia5 that the maximum stirrup spacing should be yl/2 was substantiated. 4. The torque twist curves were generally smooth and not discontinuous at the cracking torque. The initial portion of a torque-twist curve was almost linear and the initial torsional stiffness could be approximated by the elastic torsional stiffness. The value of the post-cracking torsional stiffness was dependent mainly on the loading ratio. The reduction in the flexural stiffness after cracking was not as large as that of the torsional stiffness. 5. The strains in a stirrup were largely dependent on the location of the stirrup relative to the failure surface. The strains were low initially and did not increase markedly at the cracking torque but did increase rapidly just prior to failure.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The research on which this paper is based was carried out in the Depart99

PCI Journal/September-October 1973

ment of Civil Engineering at The University of Calgary. Financial assistance was provided by the National Research Council of Canada and is gratefully acknowledged.

APPENDIX-NOTATION
A t = area of a single leg of a stirrup b = width of a rectangular beam e = eccentricity of prestress

stirrup yl = larger center-to-center dimension of a closed rectangular stirrup o-, = average level of prestress on section

REFERENCES
1. "Building Code Requirements for Reinforced Concrete (ACI 318-71)," American Concrete Institute, Detroit, 1971, 144 pp. 2. Hsu, T. T. C., and Kemp, E. L., "Background and Practical Application of Tentative Design Criteria for Torsion," ACI Journal, Proceedings Vol. 66, No. 1, January 1969, pp. 12-23. 3. Woodhead, H. R., and McMullen, A. E., "A Study of Prestressed Concrete Under Combined Loading," Research Report No. CE 72-43, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, 1972. 4. Henry, R. L., and Zia, P., "Behavior of Rectangular Prestressed Concrete Beams Under Combined Torsion, Bending and Shear," Department of Civil Engineering, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, April 1971. 5. Gangaroa, H. V. S., and Zia, P., "Rectangular Prestressed Concrete Beams Under Combined Bending and Torsion," Department of Civil Engineering, North Carolina State University at Raleigh, April 1970_

= concrete cylinder compressive strength f, = modulus of rupture of concrete ft , = yield stress of stirrup L = length of span M = bending moment Me,. = cracking moment M,, = ultimate bending capacity of beam under combined loading M,u0 = ultimate bending capacity of beam under pure flexure P = vertical load on beam in test s = spacing of stirrups T = twisting moment To,. = torque at which first cracks were observed Tu = ultimate torsional capacity of beam under combined loading T,u0 = ultimate torsional capacity of beam in pure torsion V ar shear force at cracking Vu ultimate shear of a beam under combined loading V shear force acting at failure of a specimen tested in moment and shear alone xl = shorter center-to-center dimension of a closed rectangular
f0'

Discussion of this paper is invited, Please forward your discussions to PCI Headquarters by February 1, 1974, to permit publication in the March-April 1974 PCI JOURNAL.

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