Computers & S~rucrures Vol. 46, No. 5, pp.

917-929,
Printed in Great Britain.

1993
0

co45-7949/93 S6.00 + 0.00

1993 Pergamon Pms Ltd

NONLINEAR GEOMETRIC AND MATERIAL ANALYSIS

OF PRESTRESSED CONCRETE GENERAL
SHELL STRUCTURES
P. ROCA and A. R. MARL
E.T.S. Enginyers de Camins, Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, 08034 Barcelona, Spain
(Received 25 November 1991)
Abstract-In

a previous paper [Corner&. Sfruct. 46,905-916 (1993)], a general formation

was presented
for the nonlinear material and geometric, instantan~us and long-term nonlinear analysis of prestressed
concrete structures. Such a formulation is based on a discrete treatment of the prestressing tendons where
both the prestress geometric and mechanic effects are introduced consistently with the displacement
formulation of the finite element method. In the present paper the application of this formulation to the
nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete shells of general geometry is discussed. Special concern is
devoted to the definition of the space curved shell and tendon geometries, which potentially require large
amounts of data preparation. In order to minimize this requirement, a set of automatic procedures have
been adopted which, using an analytical description as data, generate a complete work interpolation for
both the shell middle surface and the tendon axial curves. Finally, three numerical examples are presented
through which, by comparison with existing experimental results, the efficiency and the reliability of the
method are shown.

1. INTROD~~ION

AND SCOPE

In a previous paper [ 11, the theoretical description of

a general formulation for the analysis of prestressed
concrete structures, including the effects of the nonlinear and time-dependent behaviour of the materials,
as well as the second-order effects due to large
displacements, was presented. This general formulation is based on a discrete treatment of the prestressing tendons which is intended to be consistent
with the displacement formulation of the finite
element method that is usually adopted to deal with
concrete structures. However, from its further application to particular structural cases arise some more
specific aspects which in turn ask for complemental
development and detail.
In this paper, the application of the general formulation to the case of prestressed concrete shells of
general geometry is described. Both the geometric
and the mechanical aspects of prestressing are treated
following the general procedures described in [l]. If
the reader is not familiar with this paper, the authors
recommend reading it before undertaking this second
part of the study. Some formulae and developments
described in this previous paper are referred to in this
paper.
The numerical treatment of prestressing in general
shelf structures sets up a complex challenge conceming the complete definition of the geometry when
arbitrary space curves are admitted to describe the
axial courses of the tendons. The main difficulty
follows from the need to keep within a reasonable
limit the total input data preparation that is required
prior to each particular problem. The efficiency of the

numerical method, and even its actual capacity

to be used repeatedly for practical problems, mainly
follows from the technique adopted to perform
the complete geometric description. A maximum
automatization should be the objective.
In Sec. 3 the adopted techniques for the geometric
definition and modelling are presented, and the procedure adopted to automatically generate the whole
discretized geometry is described. The treatment of
the mechanical aspects of prestressing is undertaken
later in Sacs 4 and 5. Specific expressions are obtained
to evaluate the tendon defo~ation
under external
effects as well as the cont~bution of prestressing to
the global stiffness.
Finally, three numerical examples are presented in
Sec. 6 which have been used for the verification of the
presented formulation. Their comparison with available experimental or analytical results from other
authors have shown both the satisfactory efficiency
and reliability of the method. However, a lack of
experimental studies about prestressed concrete shells
has been found, meaning that experimental research
is still needed regarding future verification and
extension.
The detailed description of the presented formulation, together with the complete mathematical
developments, can be found in [Z].

2. REINFORCED SHELL ELEMENT FOR NONLINEAR

ANALYSIS

Chans [3,4] previous numerical model for the nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete shells has been

917

P. ROCAand A. R.

918

Fig. 1. Shell L9 finite element adopted in the present model.

adopted as a basic substract for the later inclusion of

prestressing. Its key features are briefly presented.
The nine-node Lagrangian isoparametric element
shown in Fig. 1 has been adopted for the present
study. Through its comparison to other currently
used shell elements, Chan [3] showed the L9 element
to be advantageous both in efficiency and accuracy.
In addition, integration procedures have been formulated and tested that avoid shear locking and spurious
zero energy modes for most practical cases.
The shell element is regarded as a multilayered
system where each layer is assumed to be under a
biaxial state of stresses. The stresses and the state of
the materials vary independently at each layer to
account for the mechanical changes of the materials
throughout the loading process. An hypoelastic biaxial concrete model is adopted (Darwing and
Pecknold, 1986) together with a biaxial strength
envelope (Kupfer and Gerstle, 1973) to reproduce the
compressive behaviour of concrete and crushing. In
tension, concrete is assumed to behave as a linear
elastic-perfect brittle material. Smeared cracking is
initiated once the tensile strength is reached. A second
crack is permitted to appear normal to the first.
Reinforcement strength is included as a set of
additional layers of uniaxial behaviour characterized
by an equivalent thickness. A bilinear diagram is used
to model the elasto-plastic behaviour of reinforcing
steel.
3. GEOMETRIC

DESCRIPTION
OF THE COURSE
OF A TENDON

3.1. Brief overview

In previously developed models for beams and
slabs [5-71, the axial course of a prestressing tendon
was modelled as a polygonal with a straight segment
defined for each concrete element crossed through.
Thus, the course was wholly determined by providing
its eccentricities relative to a certain reference axis at
each element interface. This approach showed a large
disadvantage in the detailed data preparation that
was needed for each individual study. Furthermore,
such an approach does not account for the actual

MARi

length of the tendon, so that the tendon deformation

is not reliably computed. Its application to frame
structures and slabs was fair when fine discretizations
were used.
Other, more accurate approaches are convenient
to deal with prestressed curved members or shells.
Hofstetter [8] considered the exact geometry of the
shell middle surface and the axial curves of the
tendons by providing their actual geometric analytical expressions as data. Automatic procedures can
then be designed to generate the path of the prestressing tendons throughout the mesh of shell finite
elements. A considerable part of data preparation is
saved, although a previous development based on the
differential geometry must be carried to prepare the
analytical expressions that are required for each
individual problem. In addition to the shell middle
surface and the tendon axial curves, expressions are
also needed for such geometric properties as the
surface first and second fundamental forms, the
moving trihedral t, b, n for the tendon curves, and
their curvature and jacobian.
Fernandes [9] uses a curvilinear interpolation for
the tendon independent to that one of the shell
element. A system of nonlinear equations is formulated for each shell element and prestressing tendon
to determine their intercepting points.
For the present fomulation, as will be described in
Sets 3.2-3.5, a process has been adopted in which the
analytical expressions of the shell middle surface and
the tendon axial curves serve only as initial data.
Later, using these provided expressions, a complete
geometric interpolation is generated and retained
throughout the analysis. Although the interpolation
of a tendon curve is carried independently for each
individual prestressing segment included in an
element, continuity of position and slopes is imposed
at each intercepting point. The natural coordinates
({, r~,[) introduced to describe the isoparametric shell
element, are also used to formulate the pre-defined
curves adopted to model the prestressing segment.
Thus, an interpolation results for the prestressing
tendons which is dependent on the shell element mesh
and which fully takes advantage of the basic finite
element numerical support. Geometric scalar or vectorial properties are automatically computed so that
no previous differential or algebraic developments are
needed for each individual application. Furthermore,
the use of this dependent interpolation automatically
accounts for the actualization of the whole geometry,
including tendon courses, which is to be carried
out in a nonlinear geometric analysis with large
displacements.
3.2. Geometric description by analytical expressions
To analytically describe an arbitrary course of a
shell tendon the following expression, introduced in
[l], can be used
xp = x, + e(s)v,,

(1)

Nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete structures

919

where x,, refers to the position of the axis of the

tendon, x,, refers to the middle surface of the shell,
and vj is the unit vector orthogonal to that. Function
e(s) is used to describe the eccentricity of the tendon
with respect to the middle surface of the shell.
For most practical cases, it will be possible to
analytically describe the middle surface of a shell by
means of two parameters a and B, as

4
(Sp,qp)

x(a, Bh

X, =

(2)

_v(a,B),
z(a9B).

A variable thickness of the shell will be expressed

similarly by a function h(a, /I).
In addition, it will be assumed that analytical
expressions are available to determine the course of
a tendon both in the surface plane and its eccentricity,
as

B = B(a), e = eta)

(3)

or alternatively,
a = a(/?),

e = e(B)

so that, using (1), a parametrical

for each tendon

xp= x,(t),

Fig. 3. Interpolation of a prestressing segment in the shell

element plane (r, q).

i; =ar2+bz

3.3. Numerical modelling of the tendon courses

The numerical geometric modelling of a tendon
consists of an individual interpolation of each prestressing segment intercepted by a shell element
(Fig. 2), using certain curves which are formulated in
the natural coordinates (r, q) of the shell isoparametric element. The curves of interpolation have
been selected so that both continuity of position and
slopes can be superimposed between the consecutive
interpolated segments.
The projection of the course of a segment on
the plane of the shell element is described by the
following curve (Fig. 3)

+f,

eG)=W +P$ +4

(4)

(5)

q =dr2+e7

(6)

where r is an auxiliary parameter defined so that

171 Q 1 and reaches the values 7 = + 1 at the segment
ends. The six constant values a, b, c, d, e, f are
obtained by asking for continuity of position and
slope on the shell plane.
The eccentricity e relative to the shell middle
surface is modelled by a parabola with scaling factor

expression results

t = a or /I.

+c,

*=

(7

lk

2 + (g - 1)(7 + 1)

Oa)
k > Oh

VW

where constants g, h, p, q are again to be determined

from continuity of position and slopes for the developed elevation normal to the shell plane (Fig. 4). Such
an interpolation, already used to model prestressing
tendon courses by Carras&
et al. [lo], has been
found advantageous in front of a cubic polynomial
interpolation due to its remarkable stability and its
capability to minimize the effect of small data errors.
By using eqns (6) and (7a), the interpolation
of a prestressing segment in the global system of
coordinates is given as

X,(T)=

5Ni(5(7), tl(T))Xgi+ e(T)v,,

(8)

i-l

e
t

eP

rk
-1

Fig. 2. kestressing
C-AS 46,5--I

segment included in a shell element.

Fig. 4. Interpolation of the developed eccentricity of a

prestressing segment.

920

P. ROCAand A. R. MARL

Fig. 5. Shell element mesh in plane (a, B) including a prestressing tendon.

where Ni({, n), i = 1,2, . . , N are the shape functions used for the interpolation of the middle shell
surface (as described in [l]), and x,,, i = 1,2, . . . , N
are the nodal coordinates.
3.4. Automatic generation of the course of a tendon
The adopted procedure is a modification, including
the adaptation to the L9 shell element, of a method
previously utilized by Hofstetter [8]. Using the analytical expressions of Sec. 3.4, an automatic determination of the consecutive elements crossed through
by a tendon is performed. The points where the
tendon intersect the interfaces of the shell elements
are determined by their coordinates (a, p).
The usage of this procedure needs the definition of
trapezoidal elements in the a-8 plane (Figs 5 and 6).
Such a mesh is easy to conceive for most shell

geometries, so that almost no practical restriction is

introduced. In addition, no more than two points of
intersection of a tendon with the side faces of an
element are possible.
The basic input consists of the trapezoidal mesh of
shell finite elements in the (a, j?) plane, and the
analytical expressions for the geometry of the shell
(2) and the tendons (3) or (4) together with their
derivatives

(or $),

(or%).

(9)

Consider the description given in eqn (3) for a

tendon. Let {(ai, /I), i = 1,2,3,4} be the coordinates
of the comer points of a trapezoidal element in the
a+
plane, being crossed through by a tendon
(Fig. 6). The coordinates of intersecting points P and
Q are obtained from the following equation
f(a)=fl(a)-(kija

+dij)=O,

(104

where
k

Fig. 6. Shell element crossed through by a prestressing

segment, represented as a trapezoid in the (a, /3) plane.

Jy-B

11 aI_ai

d,, = /Pai - ajj

aj_ai

(lob)

Assume that for this shell element, a side is known

which is intersected by the tendon. Equation (lOa)
must be then formulated consecutively for the
remaining sides. If an intersecting point has been
found using (lOa) that exceeds the limiting coordinates of a side, another further side must be tried.
Once a solution is found which fits into the limits of

921

Nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete structures

a side, the matrix of nodal member connections

can
be used to identify the consecutive element crossed
through by the tendon.
A similar automatic test is performed throughout
the mesh contour to first determine the elements and
the element sides that include the tendon ends. Then
the process is started beginning at the element which
includes the first end of the tendon, and is then
repeated until reaching the element with the opposite
end.
The following iterative procedure has been adopted
to solve eqn (IOa), which permits advantage to be
taken of the provision of its derivative. For an
equation

or alternatively

(11)

e,=e(&),

f(a) = 0

e,=e(a,),

e,=e(a,),

tatreP=;
P

(16)

=cotA,,
P

Bq,

3 Q=cotA,,

e,=e(flq),

COt@p=d

uq=a$),

dSP

to which a certain approximate value a is already

available, an improved solution a + can be obtained
using Newtons rule as
O=f(a)+Af(a)zf(a)+~Aa

(12)

df -
( du >

Aa = -f(a)

(14)

By using (13) for eqn (1Oa) as a particular case, the

following formula results to evaluate the consecutive
increments
_B(a")-kja"-4j

dB

dtL

(15)
(a")

-k,

must be used to fully determine the value of the set

of ten constants that characterize the geometric
interpolation of a prestressing segment
a

(13)

a+ = a + Aa.

Aa_

(17)

A convergence norm is observed upon the absolute

value of Aa to determine the achievement of a
satisfactory solution. A complementary divergence
criterion is needed to decide whether no intersection
exists between a tendon and a certain element side.
The repeated usage of this procedure has shown its
efficiency, meaning that few iterations have been
needed in all the tried practical cases to get an
accurate solution [2].

e f

q.

(18)

Assuming that the following values were known

(Figs 3 and 4)
$

qP tan aP & qq tan aq eP tan

e,

e,

tan 0,
(19)

the process which brings to the determination of the

constants of interpolation (18) could be achieved
through an algebraic system of ten equations. The
actual problem shows some additional complexity
since the so far available geometric data (16) or (17)
are defined in the a-8 plane, while constants (18) are
relative to the element r-q plane of the interpolated
shell element.
Strictly, an implicit unique relationship can be
found between the two couples of parameters (a, j3)
and (5, q) by equalling the analytic description of the
shell with its isoparametric interpolation

(20)

3.5. Determination of the curves of interpolation

The results that have been obtained from the
procedure described in Sec. 3.4, which include the
following values

5,

8,=B(a,).

=tanA,,
P

aq,

L$=B(a,),

=tanA,,

The usage of (20) as an implicit relationship

5 =t(a,B)

rl

=tl@,B)

for

(21)

should be achieved by an approximative numeric

procedure since an arbitrary analytical expression is
admitted for x(a, fl). Although conceivable, this procedure can be expected to require a great computational effort. To relate the two representations

P. ROCAand A. R. MARL

922

in a more direct way, the use of the following

approximative transformation is proposed

which is accepted with the isoparametric interpolation of the geometry. In fact, the two following
surfaces

x0*= %(a, 8)
where the
defined as

functions

{Mj(L q), i = 1,2,3,4}

are

M, =&r + l)(rl + 1)

(23a)

W=$tl-

l)(V + 1)

(23b)

- l)(? - 1)

(23~)

M4 = $tt + l)(rl - 1).

(23d)

W=&

(24)

and

have the same finite element interpolation

(26)

Equation (22) allows the quantities (16) and (17) of

a, fl plane to be easily related to the values (19) of 5, n

plane. In addition, it can be inverted after a short

algebraic development.
Although transformation (22) is not strictly exact,
it does not introduce any additional error to that one

like all the surfaces which coincide at the nodal

points.
Figure 7 summarizes all the representations which
have been considered for a prestressed shell element,
together with the transformations
that have been
defined between them.

Fig. 7. Summary of the different representations considered for a prestressed shell element.

923

Nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete structures

The values of xp, xp, tip are determined by operating

upon the interpolation (8).
Length and angle increments. The length Ar
between two points a and b of a tendon, and the
accumulated angle increment between the two points,
Aa, result from the evaluation of the two integrals

s s

Aa =

ing segment.

KdS=

3.6. Evaluation of the geometric properties

Jacobian, curvature and moving trihedral. The later
treatment of the prestressing mechanical effects
requires the evaluation of the basic geometric properties of the tendon axial space curves, including
the curvature (K), and the jacobian (J,). Also the
moving trihedral which consists of the tangent t, the
normal II and the binormal b unit vectors (Fig. 8) is
needed. Particularly, the jacobian is used to incrementally relate the length s with an arbitrary curve
parameter 5

c.

1.

Fig. 8. Moving trihedral (t, II, b) in a point M of a prestress-

uJP d7.

(34)

These values are needed throughout the length of

the tendon to compute the prestressing force distribution P(S) using the well-known formula
P(s2) = P(s,)e*uh++h)

to account for friction and wedge pull-in losses, as

described in [ 11.Equations (47) or (58) of [ 1] can then
be used to obtain the work-equivalent node forces
caused by prestress.
3.7. Integration upon a prestressing segment

ds = J,, dr.

(27)

The following formulae, known from the differential geometry, are available to perform those calculations (where single overdot and double overdot
characterize the first and the second derivatives with
respect to the parameter 7, respectively)

(29)

To evaluate the integral of a certain functionf(s)

on the axial curve F of a prestressing segment, a
three-point Gauss-Legendre
integration scheme is
used upon the parameter 7 introduced in Sec. 3.3. The
integral is thus obtained as

where 7,) 72, F~ are the points of integration (Fig. 9)

and wp17wp2, wp3are their corresponding weights.
4.

n=

4-

ip*($+ip)

(j)z
txn

> K(S)*

b=ltxnl.

(31)

AXIAL

DEFORMATION
OF A PRESTRESSING
TENDON

The general procedure described in Sets 3.7-3.10 of

[l] is used here to formulate the final deformation at
any point of a tendon, induced by external loads
acting on the structure. Distinction is made between
bonded and unbonded tendons.

Fig. 9. Integration points on a prestressing segment.

924

P. ROCAand A. R. Meal

The strain tensor II at a point into a shell element,

evaluated in the surface local system of reference axis
(x, y, z), can be referred to another arbitrary system
of orthogonal axis (x *, y *, z *) through the tensorial
transfo~ation
L* = TTeT

(37)

or, in a more explicit way

Writing (41) in a more compact form

t, =

cc.

Using matrix B that relates the shell element strains

L to the nodal unknown a, the following direct
relation is obtained for the bonded tendon axial
deformation
cp= CBa.

where (vii = vi**vi>, and (vl, v,, v, >. (VT, vf, v: ), are
the unit trihedrals respectively related to the axes
(x,y, z) and (x*,y*, z*).
Perfect bonding, meaning that no relative motion
between concrete and prestressing steel exists, is
assumed for bonded tendons after grouting. Thus, the
axial deformation tp of a bonded tendon can be
obtained by selecting the shell strain component E,.
which results from a transformation (38) where the
unit vectors {vr, vf, v: ] are taken as the moving
trihedral (t, n, b). Such a process yields the following
relationship

If the prestressing tendons show soft courses with

respect to the middle surface of the shell, as will be
the case for most tendons included within the shell
thickness, the following approach will be acceptable
?.&=(t.v,)*ZO

w>

which allows the contribution of the shell normal

strain Q, to the total axial deformation of the tendon
to be neglected. In fact, 4 is not directly known
whether the normal stress a,. is assumed to be null,
and both normal components E,, and a,, are not
considered in the constitutive equations of concrete.
This final expression is then obtained in matrix form

(42)

(43)

For an unbonded tendon, a more sophisticated

procedure based on the consideration of the relative
motion between concrete and steel over the whole
length of the tendon, must be adopted. Some
proposals to model the kinematic behaviour of
unbonded tendons are available {as mentions in [I]).
Generally, the treatment of an unbonded tendon
needs the calculation of the total elongation up after
the deformation of the structure. This can be
achieved by using (43) to evaluate the elongation of
each single shell element i = 1,2, . . . , N being crossed
through by the tendon, and then adding all contributions as

CB dsa,.

(44)

The most simple approach follows from neglecting

the friction between the concrete and the unbonded
tendon. Thus, a uniform axial deformation results
which can be directly obtained as

5. CONTRIBUTION
OF PRESTRESSJNG TO THE
GLOBAL STIFFNESS

The expressions provided in Table 1 of [I] can

be directly utilized, together with the obtained
expression (41) for matrix C, to calculate the different
mechanic matrix variables that are needed to perform
the nonlinear analysis, Those variables result from
the use of the virtual work equation to set the
equilibrium of a prestressing segment, seen as a free
body. Particularly, a prestressing stiffness matrix is
obtained to account for the cont~bution of prestressing to the global stiffness.
6. NUMERICAL

EXAMPLES

The presented formulation has been implemented

into computer as an extension of the existing program
NASHL (Nonlinear Analysis of Shells), previously
developed for the nonlinear material and geometric,
instantaneous and long-term analysis of reinforced
concrete shells with edge beams [3,4]. This implementation has allowed the initiation of a verification

925

Nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete structures

through the analysis of some examples. Three of them
are discussed below.
6.1. Lins beam
Lin [I 11 conducted experimental tests on a series of
statically indeterminate prestressed beams. One of the
studied beams, designated as beam B, later selected
by some researchers to appraise the results of their
numerical models [3,6,9], has been also utilized to
verify the present model.
The structure is shown in Fig. 10 together with its
geometric discretization into shell elements. The symmetry of the beam with respect to the central support
has been taken into account.
The prestressing tendon consists of 32 parallel
wires of 5 mm diameter. In addition, two mild steel
bars of 14 mm diameter are introduced in the critical
zones of the beam. The mechanical properties of the
materials are listed below.

-experimental
--o--present

h Van treuenen
o Fernandes
et al

0.0

A = 4.9 N/mmz,
v = 0,

E, = 0.002,

2.0
fern)

1J

2.5

Fig. 1t , Example 1: load vs vertical deflection in the loading

point.

p = 0.3 rad-I,

fi = 38 NJmm2,

1.0
1.5
VERTICAL
DEFLECTION

0.5

A, = 6.2 13 cm,
E0 = 37,100 N/mm*,

analysis

vpo= 1060. i Nfmmz,

K = 0.01 m-l,

AI = 0.25 cm.

Points that define the ~u~~i~i~e#rdiagram gp--4 for

prestressing steel

yc = 25 kN/m3.
g1 = 1456 N/mm2,

.q = 0.0072,

c2 = 1589 N/mm,

c2 = O-01,

c3 = I705 N/mm2,

c3= 0.02,

cr4= 1744 N/mm2,

64= 0.03,

(F$= 1786 N/mm,

Ed= 0.05.

Reinforcing steel
E, = 198,800 N/rnrn~~ fsy = 318.5,
L, = 0.016.

& = 728 N/mm2,

9 equal

shell

elements

t
1

2@14

Tendon position
id
id

in A

in B and C
in 0

The analysis is designed to simulate the actual

process carried out in the experiment, as described by
Lin [I 11. The prestressing force is transferred at 14
days after casting. Later, at 28 days after casting, the
external concentrated load P (Fig. IQ) is gradually
increased up to failure. Ageing, shrinkage and creep
of concrete are considered up to 28 days.
Figure 11 compares the experimental
loadmidspan deflection curve with the analytical one
obtained in the present analysis, showing a good
agreement. The analysis has detected a failure of the
beam due to the crushing of concrete at the inner _
support. Almost an exact prediction for both the
ultimate load and the ultimate midspan deflection
have been obtained. The satisfactory results of other
previous anaiyses have even been improved.
6.2. Ritz presrressed slab

2#14
Measures

in meters

Fig. 10. Example 1: geometry of the structure and reinforcement layout.

Ritz et ai. f12] carried out a test on a model

of a two-way prestressed concrete slab. Prestress
consisted of a set of ten unbonded post-tensioned
tendons in each orthogonal direction. The slab
was square, having a dimension of 360cm and a

926

P. ROCAand A. R. Mmf
p(kN/m)

uniform thickness of 20cm, and was supported

on punctual supports placed at the middle points of
each side.
The following material properties have been used
in the analysis
Concrete
,?I,,= 3 1,920 N/mm,

20-1
gz4.45,

6C= 0.002,

y, = 25 kN/m3.

p = 0.1 rad-,

opo= 7800 N/mm*,

K = 0.00157 m-l.

Points that define the multilinear diagram ap-ep for

prestressing steel
u, = 979 N/mm2,

~~= 0.008,

a2 = 1056 N/mm*,

c2 = 0.010,

o3 = 1092 N/mm*,

c3 = 0.011,

u4 = 1128 N/mm*,

C, = 0.015,

o5 = 1160 N/mm*,

Ed= 0.027.

r----- --- --1

g

j+xJp

L______--- -1

Q-

-10

I )

I
-15

-20

-25 (cm)

Taking advantage of symmetry, only a quarter of

the slab has been discretized into the shell mesh
shown in Fig. 12. The prestressing tendons have a
parabolic profile reaching a maximum eccentricity of
6.5 cm at midspan. Eccentricity is null at anchorages.
The slab is submitted to uniform distributed vertical load. Figure 13 shows the complete experimental
curve of load vs midspan deflection.
The loading process is simulated in the analysis
through two stages. First, dead load and prestressing
are introduced. In a second stage, an increasing live
load is gradually applied up to an arbitrary maximum
deflection of 5 cm. Strain increments in prestressing
steel due to the external load are evaluated taking
into account the effect of friction between the tendon
and the duct, by the method described in [2].
The obtained analytical load-midspan deflection
diagram is compared in Fig. 14 with the experimental
curve and other analytical available results. A good
agreement is observed between the present analytical
and the experimental results, including good predictions for cracking and ultimate behaviour. The small
deviation observed during the intermediate behaviour
after cracking is due to the fact that no reinforcement

Measures in cm

ki&

E
I-

Fig. 13. Example 2: experimental load vs central displacement diagram obtained by Ritz et al. [12].

A, = 0.929 cm* per tendon

!
I

u,(x1=O,x,-0)
-5

Prestressing steel

Z
360

fi = 35 N/mm*,

f;= 3.5 N/mm2,

v = 0.18,

120

180

Mesh of 3~3 shell elements

Fig. 12. Example 2: geometry and defined mesh of finite

elements.

40

$
z

30
20

RITZ SLAB
____ experimental
0 Van Greunen
0 present analysis
0 Hofstetter (midle mesh)

10
04

1
2
MIDSPAN

3
DEFLECTION

1 cm

Fig. 14. Example 2: comparison between the experimental

and the analytical load vs central deflection curves.

Nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete structures

927

steel is considered for Ritzs slab, nor a minimum

arbitrary fictitious amount to account for tension
stiffening, in spite of having adopted a tension stiffening model referred to the reinforcement steel. Such
a tension stiffening model can be judged as more
objective and realistic than those alternatives referred
to the concrete [3], and is useful for most usual
cases of concrete slabs and shells where a certain
reinforcement exists.
6.3. Boumas cylindrical prestressed shell
Bouma et al. [13] tested the experimental model
of a concrete barrel vault prestressed both in the
edge beam and within the shell membrane. This rare
example of a test upon a wholly prestressed concrete
curved shell has been by no means used to trial the
present numerical model. An analytical study of
Hofstetter [8] is also available.
The shell is shown in Fig. 15 together with its
geometric parameters. The thickness is of 1 cm in the
shell membrane and 2 cm in the edge beams. Prestressed consists of 20 2-mm wires, six of them
included in each edge beam (Fig. 16).
The analytical description of middle surface can be
easily formulated using the polar coordinates a
(length) and /l (angle) as follows:

The following properties for concrete are used in

the analysis
f, = 27,670 kN/mm*,
E, = 33,675 N/mm*,

f, = 3380 kN/mm*,

v = 0.2,

y, = 25 kN/m3.

Due to incomplete data, the following approximative properties are assumed for the reinforcing
steel

Fig. 16. Example 3: layout of the prestressing tendons.

r;Y = 300,000 kN/mm*,

ES = 210,000 N/mm*,

&, = 10,500 N/mm*,

6su= 0.01.

The distribution of reinforcing steel in the shell

membrane is shown in Fig. 17. Only bottom steel
exists, consisting of orthogonal 1 mm bars spaced
2 cm, together with additional longitudinal 1 mm
bars spaced at 4 cm. The only data provided in [ 131
regarding the reinforcement of the edge beam consists
of its amount given as a geometric ratio of 0.4%.
Using the same criterion as [8], the distribution shown
in Fig. 18 is adopted which includes four steel layers,
two of them to represent the steel in an orthogonal
direction, each having an equivalent thickness of
0.004 cm.
The following data are provided with regard
to the prestressing steel: an elastic modulus of
Ei = 200000 N/mm* and a yielding
stress of
f, = 1700 N/mm*. Through the comparison with
other stress-strain typical curves of prestressing
steel, the following multilinear
list has been
constructed

~-Fig. 17.
I

Measurements

in cm

Fig. 15. Example 3: geometry of the prestressed concrete

barrel vault.

Fig. 18.

Fig. 17. Example 3: layout of untensioned reinforcement in

the shell membrane.
Fig. 18. Example 3: layout of untensioned reinforcement in
the edge beam.

P. RCICAand A. R. MAR!

928

Q, = 1700 N/mm2,

6, = 0.0085,

u2 = 1920 N/mm2,

t2 = 0.01,

u, = 2050 N/mm2,

.c,= 0.02,

u4 = 2100 N/mm2,

E.,= 0.03,

CT~
= 2150 N/mm*,

c5 = 0.05.

The geometric course of the prestressing tendons

10 (Fig. 16) can be analytically described
by means of expressions such as
i=l,2,...,

fl = U,(E) + bit

Fig. 19. Example 3: finite element mesh.

where the coefficients ai, bi for the tendons included

into the shell membrane (i = 1,2,3,4) are obtained
as follows:
a, = -0.09896129

+ (i - 1)0.01611372 m-2

bi = 0.667065 + (i - 1)0.00995 rad.

(48)

Their respective values for tendons in the edge beam

are given in Table 1. Those values have been taken
from [8]. The courses of the tendons show null
eccentricity with respect to the middle surface of shell
membrane and the plane of the edge beam.
Each tendon consists of a prestressing wire of
2 mm. The values considered for the sliding friction
and the wobble friction coefficients are p = 0.2 and
K = 0.04 m-l. No wedge pull-in is considered.
The
prestressing force provided in the anchors is chosen

such that, after the instantaneous losses, a tension

of 1000 N/mm* is reached at midspan in each tendon.
The symmetry of the problem is taken into consideration so that only a quarter of the structure
needs to be discretized. Figure 19 illustrates the mesh
of twelve shell elements, four of them to represent the
edge beam, that has been defined to carry the present
analysis.
The design load Q, includes a vertical distributed
load for the shell membrane and the edge beam of log
and 5g, respectively, where g = yCh is the dead load
per unit area of surface. In the present analysis, the
design load has been gradually increased up to 3.5Qo.

Table 1. Coefficients a,, b, referring to the

prestressing wires in the edge beams

i
5
6

7
8
9
10

ai, m-I
-0.01571848
-0.01335784
-0.00903960
-0.00667896
-0.00236064
0.0

Figure 20 shows the curves that relate the load level

Q/Q0 with the observed deflection both at the crown
of the shell membrane and at the midspan of the edge
beam. The results obtained in the present analysis are
compared with the experimental results [13] and the
previous analytical results [8].
The analytical results have reproduced in a satisfactory way the initiation of cracking for a load of
Q/Q0 = 1.85, to which a sudden drop of stiffness
follows. Also the change in the sign of the deflection
of the membrane crown has been analytically predicted for Q/Q, = 1.9. The actual experimental model
shows a stiffer behaviour after the generalization of
cracking, probably meaning that, in the analysis, the
tension stiffening effect has been underestimated.
However, a desirable improvement of the numeric
simulation of the tension stiffening effect as well as its
extension to tensioned reinforcement, still need
additional research in both the experimental and the
theoretical fields.
The present analysis has yielded an ultimate load
of 3.5Q/Qo for a deflection at the edge midspan of
7 cm, thus overestimating significantly the ultimate

4.0

edge beam

3.5
3.0
= 2.5
9
0 2.0
2
-I 1.5 I
B

---0

b,,m

0.071375
0.079875
0.079875
0.088375
0.088375
0.096875

crown

0.5

I
-2

I
-l

experimental
present analysis
Hofstetter

0
1
2
3
4
MIDSPAN DEFLECT ION km)

(middle mesh)

Fig. 20. Example 3: load vs deflection diagrams for overloading. Comparison between the experimental and the
analytical results.

Nonlinear analysis of prestressed concrete structures

load for Q/Q,, = 3 found experimentally. This discrepancy is probably due to the use of an excessively
coarse mesh. Such a mesh, although not being able to
provide the resolution that is needed to properly
characterize such a local brittle failure, has nevertheless detected most of the complex phenomena
shown by the experimental test. Hofstetter, at his
turn, found a brittle failure for Q/Q,, = 2.25 which
discrepancy with the experimental one was attributed
to the uncertainty caused by the incomplete information provided in [13] regarding the material properties and layout of the untensioned reinforcement of
the edge beams.
7. SUMMARY

AND CONCLUSIONS

A numerical model for the nonlinear geometric and

material, instantaneous and long-term analysis of
prestressed concrete shell structures has been presented. This model of analysis was developed as a
particular application of a more general formulation
for the numerical treatment of prestressing described
in the previous paper [l].
This application to concrete shell structures has
one of its more important aspects in the need to
minimize the input data preparation for the complete
definition of the geometry of the problem, including
the shell middle surface and the space curves that
refer the axis of the prestressing tendons. A procedure has been developed that, using a set of analytical expressions as primordial data to describe the
shell and the courses of the tendons, later generates a global geometric interpolation. The interpolation of the tendon courses is dependent to the
isoparametric interpolation of a shell element. Consequently, the process of geometric re-actualization
which is required in a nonlinear geometric analysis
with large displacements, is automatically extended
to the prestressing tendons by operating on the shell
geometry.
Among other aspects relative to the mechanical
treatment of prestressing, a procedure is presented to
evaluate the axial deformation of a tendon that is
caused by an external load increment. Distinction is
made between bonded and unbonded tendons.
The results obtained with the numerical model in
the case of four examples of application are presented
and compared with experimental and analytical
results from other authors. Through those examples,
the capability of the numerical model to realistically
represent the nonlinear behaviour of prestressed concrete structures throughout their initial, cracked and
ultimate ranges is shown. However, some aspects

are detected that require further experimental

theoretical research.

929

and

Acknowledgements-This
work was carried out under the
financial support of a fund provided by the U.S.-Spain Joint
Committee&
Scientific and Technological Cooperation as
oart of Proiect CCA-85/000X and a F.P.I. arant awarded to
ihe first auihor by the Spanish Ministry of Education during
the years 1986-88.
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