Computer-Based Interactive Design for Prestressed Concrete Structures

by Michael P. Gaus, State Univ of York at Buffalo, Buffalo, United States,
Basile Dendrou, State Univ of York at Buffalo, Buffalo, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Electronic Computation

Abstract:

Prestressed concrete structures can provide a highly desirable solution for many structural applications because the designer gains control over several additional parameters as compared to ordinary reinforced concrete structures. This additional design freedom does extract a penalty, however, because rational design procedures can become very computationally intensive. The computationally intensive nature of many of the design calculations is always a problem in the teaching of prestressed concrete design. Using paper and pencil methods, a student is only able to work out a relatively few analyses or design examples. This presents an obstacle to allowing the student to develop a better understanding of the relative impact and importance of various parameters involved design and in studying the effect of the performance implications of design approaches ranging from ordinary concrete design, partially prestressed design and fully prestressed design. In order to improve design and teaching capabilities for prestressed concrete a series of microcomputer-based programs have been developed. These programs are of two types. One group of programs are spread-sheet based and incorporate help graphics features. Another group of programs are written in more conventional programming languages and are used for nonlinear and more difficult calculations. The two groups of programs are designed to compliment each other.

Subject Headings: Prestressing | Prestressed concrete | Concrete structures | Structural design | Reinforced concrete | Computer analysis | Graphic methods

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