Numerical Model for Flexural Analysis of Precast Segmental Concrete Beam with Internal Unbonded CFRP Tendons

A new construction scheme was recently developed for precast segmental concrete beams by replacing steel tendons with internal unbonded carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer tendons. The discontinuous behaviors of the opening joints and unbonded phenomenon of tendons made their flexural behaviors more complicated than those of monolithic beams and members with bonded tendons. Currently, the knowledge on the structural performance of precast segmental concrete beams with internal unbonded carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer tendons is still limited. An efficient numerical model is urgently needed for the structural analysis and performance evaluation of this new construction scheme. In this paper, a new beam–cable hybrid model was proposed accounting for the mechanical behaviors of open joints and unbonded tendons. The numerical model was implemented in the OpenSees software with the proposed modeling method for joint elements and a newly developed element class for internal unbonded tendons. The effectiveness of the proposed model was verified by comparisons against two simply supported experimental tests. Then, the numerical model was employed to evaluate the flexural performance of a full-scale bridge with a span of 37.5 m. Compared with the precast segmental concrete beam with external steel tendons, the scheme with internal unbonded carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer tendons significantly improved the flexural capacity and ductility by almost 54.6% and 8.9%, respectively. The span-to-depth ratio and prestressing reinforcement ratio were the main factors affecting the flexural behaviors. With the span-to-depth ratio increasing by 23%, the flexural capacity decreased by approximately 38.6% and the tendon stress increment decreased by approximately 15.7%. With the prestressing reinforcement ratio increasing by 65.4%, the flexural capacity increased by 88.7% and the tendon stress increment decreased by approximately 25.2%.