Analyzing structural behavior of prestressed continuous beams with tendon breakage tested in combination of bending, torsion and shear

To study the effect of the tendon breakage and to verify different analysis methods for the bending-shear-torsion interaction, four large scale prestressed concrete beams were loaded to failure in laboratory conditions. The beams were continuous with spans of 9.7 m + 9.7 m and with beam width and height being 0.7 and 0.5 meters respectively. In three beams half of the strands were cut at the middle support during the load test. The effect of different reinforcement ratios was studied by adjusting the amount of reinforcement bars at the middle support area. Heavy instrumentation of the test specimens allowed the careful examination of the structural behavior of the beams and made it possible to compare the results of analytical models. The results show that analysis methods presented could be used in the design and in the assessment of prestressed concrete bridges with internal tendons.