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006019
2025-06-03

Prestressed Concrete Element

The prestressed concrete element represents the concrete cross-section in which the tendons are located. This can be a member with the prestressed concrete cross-section (prestressed concrete beam) or a surface with the cross-section thickness (prestressed concrete slab).

Prerequisites

Member

The following prerequisites apply for modeling as a member:

  • Member type Beam or Rib
  • Cross-section type Thick-walled I, Thick-walled II or From RSECTION (provided "thick-walled" according to FEA)
  • Material Concrete
Info

There are no restrictions regarding the member geometry. This means curved beam shapes are also possible.

Surface

The following prerequisites apply for modeling as a surface:

  • Geometry type Plane or Pipe
  • Material Concrete

Input

When entering the prestressed concrete element, a distinction must be made between the object types – member or surface.

Member

You can model the member of a prestressed concrete cross-section as usual:

  1. Define the line of the member.
  2. Assign a member to the line.
  3. Specify the member type in the 'New Member' dialog, 'Main' tab.
  4. Define the cross-section with material in the 'Cross-section' tab.

Specify the cross-section of the prestressed concrete beam, for example by

  • creating a new cross-section,
  • calling up the library with the Library button in the 'New Cross-section' dialog,
  • selecting the cross-section series, and
  • specifying the geometry parameters.

Specify the material of the prestressed concrete beam. The Library button is also helpful here for selecting the material in the library.

The dialog section 'Cross-section and Material' is described in the Cross-section chapter of the RFEM manual.

Surface

You can model the surface of a prestressed concrete element as usual:

  1. Define the boundary lines of the surface.
  2. Open the New Surface dialog ('New Surface → Plane' or 'New Surface → Pipe').
  3. Assign the boundary lines.
  4. Specify the thickness with material and the material. You can use the Library button to select the concrete grade in the library.

The dialog section 'Thickness with Material' is described in the Surfaces chapter of the RFEM manual.

Important

The Decompose member into surfaces function is not suitable for prestressed concrete beams: The lines of the tendons would lie outside the generated surfaces.

Parent Chapter