Working Stress

Design
ELECTIVE 2 (SEMIFINALS)
Formula
𝑃
𝜎 = (+𝑖𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒, −𝑖𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒)
𝐴

6𝑃𝑒 𝑃𝑒𝐶
𝜎= 2
= (+𝑖𝑓 𝑡𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑙𝑒, −𝑖𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠𝑖𝑣𝑒)
𝑏𝑑 𝐼
Sample Problem
(CE Board May 2012) A beam 250 mm x 450 mm is prestressed by an initial force
of 600 kN. Total loss of prestress at service loads is 15%.
a.) Calculate the final compressive stress if the prestressing force is applied at the
centroid of the beam section.
b.) Calculate the final compressive stress if the prestressing force is applied at an
eccentricity of 100 mm below the centroid of the beam section.
c.) Calculate the eccentricity at which the prestressing force can be applied so that
the resulting tensile stress at the top fiber of the beam is zero.
Sample Problem
(CE Board May 2011) A 300 mm x 600 mm beam is to be prestressed. Considering a
15% prestress loss, compute the value of the initial prestressing force P and
eccentricity e if:
a.) The compressive stress is 21 MPa.
b.) The compressive stress at the bottom fiber is 12 MPa and the tensile stress at the
top fiber is 2 MPa.
c.) The compressive stress at the top fiber is 16 MPa and zero at the bottom fibers.
Sample Problem
(CE Board May 2013) The flooring of a warehouse is made up of double-tee joists as
shown. The joists are simply supported on a span of 7.5 m and are pre-tensioned with
one tendon in each stem with an initial force of 745 kN each, located at 75 mm above
the bottom fiber.
a.) Compute the stress at the bottom fibers of the DT at midspan due to the initial pre-
stressing force alone.
b.) Compute the resulting stress at the bottom fibers of the DT at midspan due to the
service loads and prestress force.
c.) What additional super-imposed load can the DT carry such that the resulting stress
at the bottom fibers at midspan is zero.