Behaviour of precast concrete beams prestressed with CFRP strands

Corrosion presents a serious problem in severe marine environments, especially for bridges. This paper explores the use of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) strands for prestressing precast concrete girders. The research includes a practical prestressing process using the prestressing jacks normally applied in the precast industry. Bending tests are made on prestressed concrete T-beams (scaled models of typical T-section). The design and casting processes, and the test set-up used to load the beams up to failure, are discussed, and failure mechanisms are reviewed. Test results are compared with the ACI 318 guidelines.