Though prestressing is being used widely to control deflections, prestressing of the girder under consideration is a totally new concept because of the non-conventional girder material, structural behaviour and modular nature. The girder is not made up of the conventional material like concrete but it is metallic in nature, fabricated using an Aluminium alloy. The structural behaviour of the girder is neither only as a beam nor only as a truss, as it is made up of components of both these types. In addition, the girder is not a continuous girder but is made up of modules connected to one another through pins. The structural modifications to incorporate prestressing become more difficult because of the modular nature of the girder. Prestressing such a special metallic, modular pin connected structure is a totally new concept, which was not tried before. The prestressing of this structure was successfully carried out.
展开▼
